And that is because there are so many annuity companies with so many policy variations, that even an expert who works in the field often can’t tell the difference of one annuity from another.
Canadian annuities are not complex. Here in Canada it is simple. Your age coupled with the investment, gives you a fixed amount a year, forever. That’s it, period.
For example take a male aged 65 with $100,000. You will get $6432 a year forever. No complications about interest rates, stock market fluctuations and all the rest.
You can add a partner or a spouse and the payments will only cease at the second death.
Note that the drop of 550 points in the Dow Jones on June 18-20th would not have affected your income.