Annuities Just Hit a Record $464 Billion. Your Clients Are Already Buyers.

Published: September 3, 2026 Company:Advocate Financial

Quick takeaways:

• U.S. retail annuity sales reached a record $464.1 billion in 2025.

• Medicare agents already serve the demographic driving demand for retirement income products.

• Education, licensing, carrier training, and qualified support provide a practical path to sell annuities.

The annuity boom is large, sustained, and relevant

U.S. retail annuity sales reached a record $464.1 billion in 2025, according to LIMRA’s final 2025 sales report. Sales increased 7% year over year, marking the fourth consecutive record year.

The industry also recorded its ninth straight quarter above $100 billion in sales. This is not a single-quarter spike. It is a sustained market trend supported by expanding distribution and demand for protected lifetime income.

Registered index-linked annuity, or RILA, sales also reached a new high. Sales rose 20% to $79.5 billion in 2025. The result shows that consumers and advisors are paying greater attention to retirement income products designed around protection, income, or a combination of retirement priorities.

The demand has a clear demographic foundation. 4.1 million Americans turn 65 each year, and many do not have pensions or other guaranteed income sources to cover basic retirement expenses. As more Americans move through retirement, the need for income conversations becomes broader and more persistent.

LIMRA’s preliminary 2025 annuity report identified the same direction: record demand, strong indexed product growth, and increased interest in protected lifetime income.

Medicare clients are natural annuity prospects

Medicare agents already work with the population driving this demand. Your clients are approaching or living through retirement. They are reviewing healthcare costs, household budgets, income sources, and long-term financial concerns.

That shared demographic creates a practical connection between Medicare and annuity conversations.

Medicare planning often introduces broader questions:

• How will healthcare costs affect monthly cash flow?

• Which income sources will remain available throughout retirement?

• How much of the household budget depends on personal savings?

• What concerns exist around outliving assets?

These questions do not require an agent to recommend a product. They create an opportunity to identify whether a separate retirement-income conversation would be useful.

Medicare clients may already view you as a trusted resource for an essential part of their retirement planning. That relationship gives you a stronger starting point than a cold prospecting call. You understand the senior market, communicate complex information clearly, and maintain contact through annual reviews and enrollment periods.

This does not mean every Medicare client is an annuity buyer. It means the client base is aligned with the broader need that is driving annuity sales: protected lifetime income for an aging population.

Adding annuities can also help you respond to the full scope of a client’s retirement concerns without presenting yourself as a financial professional outside your training or authority. Use the Medicare relationship to identify questions, then establish the appropriate process for addressing them.

Start with education, not product presentations

You do not need to become a securities expert overnight to begin building annuity knowledge. You do need a structured process.

Start with education. Learn the core concepts behind retirement income, protection, liquidity, time horizon, and risk. Understand how different annuity categories work at a general level. Focus on the purpose, tradeoffs, contract features, and disclosures associated with each category.

Next, confirm licensing requirements. Product and state requirements vary. Some annuity business may be handled through insurance licensing, while other products may require additional securities registration or an appropriate referral arrangement. Verify the requirements before discussing or presenting a product.

Use carrier training before meeting with clients. Carrier education should cover contract structure, available features, compensation, disclosures, replacement rules, and application procedures. Ask questions until you can explain the product in plain language without overstating benefits or minimizing limitations.

Build supervision into the process. Work through your organization’s compliance procedures, approved materials, documentation requirements, and suitability or best-interest standards. Keep retirement-income discussions separate from Medicare enrollment activities where required. Do not connect a Medicare enrollment decision to an annuity purchase.

A referral process also matters. If a client’s questions involve securities, tax planning, estate planning, or financial matters outside your license and training, refer the client to a qualified professional. Joint work may also be appropriate if roles, responsibilities, disclosures, and client communications are clearly defined.

Use simple opening questions rather than product pitches:

• “What income sources are you planning to rely on in retirement?”

• “Which retirement-income concerns would you like to review?”

• “Would a separate conversation about income protection be useful?”

These questions keep the conversation educational and client-centered. They also help you determine whether additional support is appropriate.

Diversify revenue and strengthen relationships

A Medicare-only business can be productive, but it remains concentrated in one product line and one annual sales cycle. Adding annuities creates another way to serve existing clients throughout the year.

The business case is not limited to commission revenue. A broader product portfolio can increase the number of meaningful conversations you have with each client. It can also make your practice more relevant as clients move from healthcare decisions to retirement-income questions.

That creates a more durable relationship.

Clients who see you as a resource for multiple areas of their retirement needs have more reasons to remain connected outside AEP. They may also be more likely to introduce you to family members, friends, or other professionals who need help reviewing their own retirement concerns.

Medicare agent diversification also reduces dependence on annual changes in one market. Medicare regulations, carrier strategies, enrollment patterns, and plan availability can change. A diversified practice gives you additional ways to provide value while maintaining a clear focus on the senior market.

The opportunity starts with the book you already have. Review your existing relationships. Identify clients who have raised retirement-income questions. Segment conversations by need, licensing requirements, and appropriate next steps. Do not force an annuity discussion into every appointment. Create a repeatable process for identifying interest and providing qualified education.

Build your annuity practice with Advocate Financial

The record $464.1 billion in annuity sales during 2025 confirms that demand for retirement income products is substantial. Medicare agents already have access to the demographic, the relationships, and the recurring client conversations that support this market.

The next step is preparation.

Partner with Advocate Financial for annuity onboarding, carrier access, product education, and agent support. Review Advocate’s annuity suitability training resource, then discuss the licensing, training, supervision, and carrier process required to expand your practice.

Start with education. Follow the correct compliance process. Use qualified support. Build a diversified senior practice that serves clients beyond Medicare.