At 55, retirement annuities could be an option, but timing, cost and flexibility matter more than you might think.

When planning for retirement, one of the biggest decisions you'll face is how to generate consistent, tax-efficient income. Two common options, annuities and Roth IRAs, serve very different purposes, ...

An annuity is a financial product that provides a stream of income over a set period. Annuities are often used in retirement planning as a way to generate income from a lump sum investment.

At the heart of retirement planning lies one equation: investment returns must be greater than inflation, fees and drawdowns.