Three-Quarters of Annuity Owners Confident About Ability to Retire on Time

Annuity owners have more confidence in being able to retire when they want than  those not owning an annuity, according to a survey from Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.

Surveying 1,034 consumers between the ages of 45 and 75 in July, Nationwide, which sells annuity products, found that 76% of annuity owners expressed confidence in their retirement timeline, compared with 49% of people who do not own annuities.

The survey also found that familiarity with annuities is growing, as the proportion of unaware respondents dwindled to 28% from 58% in a 2023 survey. The share of respondents who had purchased annuities grew slightly to 41% from 37%, and the percentage that considered annuities but turned them down increased to 31% from 5%.

Nearly half (48%) of surveyed respondents told Nationwide they met with a paid financial adviser, and of that group, 78% said they had discussed annuities with the adviser, up from 66% in 2023. Among those who had discussed annuities, 55% said their adviser had a positive view, up from 39% in 2023. As to who first brought up annuities, it was roughly equal between consumers (44%) and advisers (47%).

Nationwide and Zeldis Research surveyed 335 Baby Boomers aged 61 through 75 and 699 consumers aged 45 through 60 from July 17 through July 24.

Knowledge Gap, Soaring Sales

An April survey by the Alliance for Lifetime Income by LIMRA, meanwhile, indicated that there could be a knowledge gap between financial advisers and their clients. When 500 financial professionals were interviewed, 28% reported thinking their clients understood annuities. On the client side, only 14% reported having a strong understanding of annuities.

Likewise, while annuities address the most-cited concern among financial professionals—outliving savings (56%)—clients’ concerns were topped by three other issues—inflation (63%), health care costs (62%) and stock market decline (45%).

The Alliance for Lifetime Income study also suggested a disconnect between advisers and clients on other retirement-related issues. Among surveyed financial professionals, 96% said they discussed “physical health-related issues” with their clients, but only 44% of surveyed clients reported having such a conversation. The “potential for cognitive decline” came up in 88% of conversations, according to surveyed advisers, but only 31% of clients reported touching on that topic.

Regardless of how their priorities aligned, 67% of surveyed financial professionals told LIMRA they were confident their clients would have the income to cover essential expenses in retirement. That sentiment was shared by 78% of survey respondent clients who reported working with financial professionals, compared with only 58% of all surveyed consumers.

This comes as total annuity sales in the U.S. reached a record high of $119.3 billion in the third quarter of 2025, according to LIMRA sales data, marking the eighth consecutive quarter with more than $100 billion in annuities sales. In late October, LIMRA projected that total annuity sales in 2025 would surpass $450 billion, up from $432 billion in 2024.

The sales data show that the growth to date through the third quarter came in the categories of registered index-linked annuities, traditional variable and fixed-rate deferred annuities. Sales of fixed-indexed annuities and both single-premium immediate annuities and deferred-income annuities were lower in the same period than in the first three quarters of 2024.

The Alliance for Lifetime Income conducted 20-minute surveys with 3,502 U.S. adults from April 10 through April 24, including 500 financial professionals, 500 people aged 61 through 65, and 500 people with more than $150,000 in investable assets.