Reader’s Question:

I didn’t believe in lotteries until I won in Oklahoma . It’s just a few thousand dollars but still, that’s money, and at least I know now that lotteries are authentic. I’d like to invest this in some type of insurance, but I’m still at a toss between annuity and life insurance. What would you recommend?

Kylie

Edmond, OK

Wow, a real lottery winner, in the flesh! That’s one of my dreams, too, you know, to win the lottery. It’s such a cliché and I’ve never really known anyone who’s won anything in the lottery, except for that character in one of Mary Higgins Clark’s books. So I’m pleased to meet you, Kylie the lottery winner from Edmond Oklahoma OK. You are not only lucky but also smart to directly save your money in something. Some people run the misfortune of having unexpected amount of money, only to behave like one-day (or maybe one-week) millionaires. They end up listing the many they should and shouldn’t have done. I am very glad that this is not the case with you and you may consider a future in investment banking.

To help you on your very nice dilemma, let us diagnose the purposes of the two insurance types and then evaluate what you need more. Annuity and life insurance are similar in a sense that both will require you to pay your premiums, and both will give your money back after some time, plus interest. Who receives the benefits (or the payouts) is what spells the difference between the two. Life insurance is primarily for the beneficiary named by the policy holder, and therefore benefits are aimed at them. Benefits are called death benefits, which will be handed out to the beneficiary in the event of the policy holder’s death. Now annuity is primarily for the policy holder. The benefits, in this case called the payout, will directly go to the policy holder at a time agreed by the two of you and your Edmond Oklahoma OK insurer. You will still be asked to name a beneficiary, who will receive the amount due you in the case of an early death. Of course, you can still give the money to your siblings or spend it all again on lottery. The payout is yours and yours alone and you can do with it as you please.

To aide you further, we have provided a very user-friendly tool on this page which gives free quotes for different types of insurance. You can try getting some as it can probably give you some insights about the subjects.

It is a toss, Kylie, between leaving the money behind after you leave this world, or getting it in your senior years to pamper your children with. But hey, you are a lottery winner so go find your luck!