A joint survivor annuity provides for payments to two or more people. Benefits continue until all of the annuitants have died. Married couples are likely to purchase these contracts. After one spouse dies, benefit payments continue to the remaining spouse for the rest of his or her life. Joint and survivor annuities can specify that benefit payment amounts stay the same throughout the payout phase. Contracts that decrease the amount after the death of the first annuitant are also available. The premium for a joint and survivor annuity that lowers the benefit payments after the first person's death will be less than for a similar contract that keeps payments at the same level. There is a better chance of a long payout phase when more than one life is covered. So joint survivor annuities generally have higher premiums than comparable life income annuities issued to one person, and in almost all cases, the annual amount paid under a joint survivor annuity will be less than would be received under an annuity on one life alone.
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