Life annuity buyers are always worrying about the best time to buy. So they keep putting off the lifetime income available to them today in the hope of better returns tomorrow.
But since 1990 life annuity rates have steadily but slowly decreased due to lessening bond rates, low inflation and increasing life expectancy.And perhaps it is increasing life expectancy the new kid on the block, which keeps monthly payments in check. If the company has to pay you for a longer period, it will; pay you less each month.
There is also one other factor that is not taken into consideration and that is demand for money. If builders are not building houses, apartments, hotels and the like, to whom are the banks going to lend?
Like real estate, the time to buy a life annuity is now. You want the income, are satisfied with the payment, so why wait? There is no genie to tell you the magic moment as we don’t know when we’ll be called away.