This calculator shows what a balance is actuarially worth as guaranteed income for life, under eight payment options, using published mortality and interest assumptions rather than a quote. It is a benchmark, not an offer.
What income would my balance buy for life?
Converting a 401(k), 403(b) or IRA balance into a guaranteed income you cannot outlive. This shows what the balance is actuarially worth under each payment option, and what a real insurance company would likely pay instead.
You do not have to annuitize everything. Try a portion of the balance and see what floor of income it buys.
Indicative, not a personal assessment. The figures above apply published mortality and discount rates to what you entered, and they are a starting point rather than an assessment of your own circumstances. We can cover that in a short conversation.
Mortality from IRS Notice 2025-40, interest from IRS Notice 2026-57 (August 2026). Market range from Poterba and Solomon, MIT. Pension and annuity exclusion from the Form IT-201 instructions. Figures verified .
How it works
What the number is for
The figure tells you roughly what a lifetime income stream is worth given your age, the balance and the option you choose, so that when you are shown a real quote you have something to measure it against. It is also the right way to think about a pension lump sum offer, which is the same question asked in reverse: the plan is offering you a balance instead of an income, and this shows what that income is worth.
It does not model a specific product, a specific carrier or current pricing. Segment rates move monthly and the page names the month it used.
What an annuity costs you
Guaranteed income is bought with flexibility. Money committed to a lifetime payment is no longer available as a balance, it generally does not pass to heirs beyond whatever the option provides, and the decision is difficult or impossible to reverse. Those are the trade the calculator does not price, and they are the part worth thinking hardest about.
Questions
Common questions
Which option should I take?
The options differ mainly in what happens to the payment when one of you dies. That is a household question rather than a rate question, and it is the same shape as the pension survivor election.
Is this what an insurer would pay me?
Not necessarily. Real pricing reflects the carrier, the product, the commission and the date. Treat a quote materially better than this figure as a reason to ask what is different about it.
Several of these choices cannot be undone.
Guaranteed income is bought with flexibility, and the trade is difficult to reverse once made. We can cover it in a short conversation, at no charge and with no obligation.
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