AARP Financial, a subsidiary of AARP Services, Inc., and New York Life Insurance Company has introduced the AARP Lifetime Income Program for AARP members, designed to generate a more secure stream of retirement income. The AARP Lifetime Income Program offers fixed immediate annuities, issued by New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation, a New York Life company, that provide guaranteed income for life to AARP members between the ages of 50 and 85.
Recent New York Life research documents the growing retirement income need. More than half (58 percent) of pre-retirees surveyed thought it important at or near retirement to supplement the income they will receive from Social Security or pensions by purchasing a product like an income annuity that provides guaranteed retirement income.
After a successful pilot test in the second half of 2006, the AARP Lifetime Income Program is now available to most of AARP’s 37 million members. New York Life will handle the AARP Lifetime Income Program from its dedicated service center in Tampa, the same facility that has provided life insurance products and service to AARP members since 1994.
The lifetime income annuities provide a stream of guaranteed income payments for life, no matter how long the annuitant lives. The annuitant decides the amount of income they wish to guarantee and purchases an annuity in the amount required to establish that stream of income. The insurer does the rest, delivering a monthly paycheck for the remainder of the annuitant’s life. This guarantee is backed by the claims paying ability of New York Life and Annuity Corporation.
The AARP Lifetime Income Program sets a minimum premium of $5,000 to begin a lifetime stream of income, and sets no maximum premium for the plans. Since the single premium is locked in, each income payment an AARP member receives represents a return of premium and interest. Currently, a 65-year-old male can expect annual income payments in excess of seven percent of premium guaranteed for life from a $100,000 Cash Refund annuity.