Defined terms for the annuity market and lifetime income landscape.
A cash refund annuity is a payout structure in which the insurer makes scheduled income payments for the lifetime of the contract owner (or other designated annuitant) and, at the annuitant's death, pays any unrecovered portion of the original premium to a designated beneficiary as a single lump sum. Why it matters The cash refund structure addresses the early-death loss that a life-only annuity imposes — that if the contract owner dies shortly after annuitization, the full premiu
