For some people annuity seems like a dirty word, but really it can be a very useful way of managing your money and getting you through your retirement in a way that keeps you pretty financially stable. In the current economic climate, the thought of financial security or of having a regular income every month is a huge relief, and an annuity can really make that happen; but in order for that to happen you have to find the best annuity deal possible, and at the beginning of your search an annuity calculator can be useful.

Annuities are an investment, but a low-risk investment and in order to calculate what your returns might be it is a good idea to use an annuity comparison table. With an annuity calculator you input your age, gender, post code and any medical information that is asked for and the annuity calculator will give you an idea of the income you might expect to receive and the annuity rate that you will get. And with annuities, the rates that you get are crucial. When you buy an annuity, the annuity provider will use the money they give them to buy government bonds and gilts and the income that you will receive will in fact be the returns from that very investment.

While investments fluctuate at the best of times, an annuity is quite low risk, but it is all about the rate that you get, or put another way, the rate of return that you get. So how then do you find the best deal? It is quite simple. The best and only way to find the best deal is to shop around, most annuity providers have annuity calculators on their websites, and if they don’t have an annuity calculator then you can always phone for a quote. In this way you can get an idea of what you can expect from each annuity provider.

An annuity calculator will give you an idea of what annuity rates you can expect, but the rate is not a guarantee and in order to get a serious quote you will need to move from the annuity calculator to the phone or to a financial advisor. It is up to you to get the best deal for yourself but there are people around whose job it is to help you. So make use not only of the annuity calculator but also of the resources of financial knowledge that you have access to, and if you don’t have one, find one.