Annuity Guarantee Period – Life annuities are guaranteed for the life of the annuitant or co annuitant; you cannot outlive the annuity payments. And the extra feature of a guarantee period means that you can ensure that someone gets a benefit if you die early.
- For non-registered funds: a named beneficiary has the choice of continuing the guaranteed payments or receiving a lump sum payment. An estate can only receive the present value of the remaining guaranteed annuity payments.
- For registered funds: A spouse can receive the balance of the guarantee payments or receive the present value of the remaining guarantee payments as a lump sum. Otherwise a beneficiary receives the commuted value.