Annuities Offered

• Metlife offers immediate and deferred annuities to customers. Immediate annuities pay a single premium to generate an immediate income stream, often for the remained of the annuitant's life. Deferred annuities allow you to make premium payments that grow in a tax-deferred account to be used later, generally after age 59 1/2 when the IRS will not assess additional penalties on the distribution. Metlife offers two deferred fixed annuities, one variable annuity and two immediate annuities, one fixed and one variable.
  
  

Premium Payments

• Metlife offers many ways that you can fund your annuity. Because an annuity is offered through an insurance company with named beneficiaries receiving a death benefit, the payments into the investment are called premium payments. Premiums for a fixed or variable annuity can be either single premium or flexible premium plans. A single premium plan requires one lump-sum payment to fund the entire annuity. A flexible premium allows you to place money into the investment at various times of ownership. Immediate annuities are always a single premium investment plan.
  
  

Financial Planning

• When purchasing any financial product, it is essential to understand how it factors into your entire financial plan. You should review other investments, retirement plans, real estate and savings assets along with anticipated debt needs in retirement. Assessing this information helps you diversify your portfolio and lower your overall risk. Metlife has a select group of Metlife Financial Planners to review your annuity needs and help you choose the annuity product that meets those needs.
  
  

Metlife Support

• Metlife offers a wide range of support to help you through all the decisions you will need to make while having a Metlife annuity. As part of the annuity contract, you will be able to designate beneficiaries, having these assets avoid probate. As you get closer to taking an income from your Metlife annuity, you may want to explore how to structure it. This includes taking a lifetime income based on your life expectancy, a lifetime income based on your spouse's, or taking a period certain income that lasts for a specified number of years. Metlife support agents are there to assist you in examining all of these options.
  
  

Warning

• Typically, Metlife is considered a stable investment company by third-party rating companies, but it received a rating drop from stable to negative by Moody's in March of 2010. It still remains an A3-rated company with Moody's, remaining in the upper bracket of insurance and investment ratings. For concerns about how Metlife annuities compare to other annuity companies, visit AnnuityFYI.com ,where you can compare different annuity products side-by-side.