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Life · Chapter 9 · Payout Options

Annuity (Period) Certain

Definition
Income for a fixed period only — NOT for life. Payments stop at the end of the period even if the annuitant is alive; if the annuitant dies early, the beneficiary collects for the rest of the period.
Example
A 20-year period certain bought at 60: checks stop at 80 no matter what; die at 70 and the family collects the remaining 10 years.
Easy to confuse with

These are what this term gets tested against — if you can't tell them apart cold, drill the contrast.

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Verified against primary sources · 2026-08-10