Featured research hub

Research and retirement insights

Industry and academic context that helps you ask better questions — carefully framed so record sales and research associations are never mistaken for personal suitability or promises.

Industry context — U.S. annuity sales (LIMRA)

LIMRA

Q2 2026 annuity sales context

LIMRA reported U.S. annuity sales of $123.9 billion in Q2 2026 — a quarterly record — with H1 2026 at $231.3 billion (first-half record) and an 11th consecutive quarter above $100B (preliminary survey ~84% of market). FIA and SPIA line items are detailed in the release.

Record demand answers “why are Americans looking?” — not personal suitability. Beginning with the January 2026 report, LIMRA defines sales as all money paid into an individual annuity (new and existing contracts), including internal transfers/exchanges per LIMRA’s note — compare totals carefully across years.

Deeper product literacy: Fixed indexed annuities · Annuity myths and facts.

Academic context — lifetime income and longevity (NBER WP 35082)

NBER WP 35082

The Effect of Annuities on Longevity (Larrain, Previtero, Severino, 2026)

NBER Working Paper 35082 (2026) studied nearly 600,000 Chilean retirees and reported evidence of lower mortality among retirees induced into annuitization by the study’s research design. This is a working paper about Chile’s system — not proof that buying an annuity will make an individual U.S. retiree live longer.

DOI: 10.3386/w35082

Full Academy framing: How lifetime income works — research section · Retirement income — research callout.

Featured Education Center guides

Retirement income

Floors, sequence risk, and lasting income concepts.

Lifetime income

Longevity risk and careful research framing.

FIA literacy

Crediting mechanics and tradeoffs.

Myths and facts

Balanced answers to common claims.

Protecting assets

Protected vs. market-risk money hub.

Long-term care

Cost risk without fear-mongering.

Trusted external starting points

Questions research should push you to ask

Is this statistic about industry demand — or about my household?
Is this a working paper, a peer-reviewed journal article, or a marketing summary?
Does the study population match U.S. retirees and U.S. product rules?
What tradeoffs does the headline leave out?

If you want a careful conversation

Research and market context are starting points for better questions — not a recommendation. You can organize household context in a Retirement Planning Profile or schedule a planning conversation with the Academy team. Education only — not personalized advice.

Build Your Retirement Planning Profile Schedule a Planning Conversation

Sources and further reading

LIMRA — U.S. annuity sales set new quarterly record totaling $123.9 billion in Q2 2026 (Jul 27, 2026): LIMRA news release. Industry demand context only — not personal suitability.
Larrain, B., Previtero, A., & Severino, F. (2026). The Effect of Annuities on Longevity. NBER Working Paper 35082. https://doi.org/10.3386/w35082 · NBER listing.
SSA — Retirement benefits: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/
NAIC consumer hub: https://content.naic.org/consumer.htm
Cross-links: Lifetime income, Retirement income, Education home.