You can buy an annuity as soon as you turn 18, and most insurance companies will still sell you one into your late 80s or even mid-90s. There are no federal age limits to buy an annuity, but contract law fixes the floor at the age of majority, and each carrier sets its own ceiling based on underwriting. Your age also decides which products, riders, and tax rules apply to you.
The Minimum Age Is 18
An annuity is a binding contract, so you need legal capacity to sign one. That means reaching the age of majority and being of sound mind.1Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Capacity In every state, that threshold is 18.
Age alone is not enough. Under the model regulation adopted in most states, the agent recommending an annuity must first collect information about your income, liquid net worth, existing debts, and financial goals.2National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation The insurer cannot issue the contract unless there is a reasonable basis to believe the product fits your situation. In practice, a young buyer with no long-term savings goal and no cash to spare will often be turned away even if they are legally old enough to sign.
Buying an Annuity for a Minor
A parent or guardian can set up an annuity for a child under 18 by acting as the contract owner while naming the minor as the annuitant, the person whose life expectancy determines the payout. The adult controls the funds and makes every decision until the child comes of age.
Two frameworks make this possible. The Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA) and the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) let a donor appoint a custodian to manage assets on the child’s behalf. The assets legally belong to the minor, but the custodian keeps control until the child reaches the age set by state law, typically 18 or 21.
Kiddie Tax
Investment income inside a custodial annuity can trigger what the IRS calls the kiddie tax. If a child’s unearned income exceeds $2,700 in a tax year, the excess is taxed at the parent’s rate rather than the child’s.3Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 553, Tax on a Child’s Investment and Other Unearned Income (Kiddie Tax) The rule applies to children under 18, and in some cases to older dependents who are full-time students.4Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 8615, Tax for Certain Children Who Have Unearned Income Because annuities grow tax-deferred, this typically matters only when withdrawals begin or if the contract is surrendered while the child is still a minor.
Gift Tax
Funding a child’s annuity counts as a gift. For 2026, you can give up to $19,000 per recipient without filing a gift tax return, and married couples can combine exclusions for a total of $38,000 per child.5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 Larger contributions do not always trigger tax, but they do require a return and eat into your lifetime exemption.
Upper Age Limits Are Set by the Insurer
No federal law caps how old you can be when you buy an annuity. Instead, each carrier sets its own maximum issue age, and those limits usually fall between 85 and 95. Insurers use mortality tables to estimate how long they will need to make payments; a very old applicant leaves them a short window to invest the premium, which makes guaranteed lifetime income harder to price.
If you are shopping in your 80s or 90s, fewer companies will write a new policy, and the products you can access will lean toward simpler contract types with fewer optional features. Quotes vary widely at advanced ages, so it is worth comparing several carriers rather than accepting the first one that will take your application.
Senior Protections
Many states add safeguards for older buyers. These include specialized suitability forms, mandatory disclosures about surrender charges and liquidity, and extended free-look periods. A free-look period lets you cancel the contract and get a full refund with no surrender charges, often within 10 to 30 days of purchase. Some states stretch that window to 30 days for buyers above a certain age.
How Your Age Changes What You Can Buy
Deferred Annuities for Younger Buyers
Buyers in their 30s, 40s, and 50s usually purchase deferred annuities. Your money grows tax-deferred for years before payments start. These contracts carry a surrender charge period, generally six to ten years, during which withdrawing more than a small percentage of the balance triggers a fee that shrinks each year until it reaches zero.6Investor.gov. Surrender Charge A long horizon makes those charges easier to live with.
Immediate Annuities for Older Buyers
Buyers in their 70s and beyond are usually directed to single-premium immediate annuities. You pay a lump sum and payments begin within a year, sometimes within a month. Carriers favor this structure at older ages because it removes the uncertainty of a long accumulation phase, and the monthly payment per dollar invested is higher than what a younger buyer would receive.
Rider Availability Shrinks With Age
Optional features such as enhanced death benefits, cost-of-living adjustments, and long-term care riders get harder to obtain and more expensive as you age. Many insurers stop offering certain riders to applicants over 75 or 80. Buying earlier gives you access to a wider selection at lower cost.
Medically Underwritten Annuities
If a serious health condition shortens your life expectancy, some carriers offer medically underwritten annuities, sometimes called substandard or impaired risk contracts. They work opposite to life insurance: worse health means higher monthly payments, because the insurer expects to pay for a shorter period. You submit medical records, and the underwriter adjusts your effective age upward. These are usually available only as immediate annuities and are most relevant for buyers in their 60s through 80s with documented impairments.
The 59½ Rule for Early Withdrawals
Age matters after you buy, not just when you sign. If you take money out of an annuity before age 59½, the taxable portion of that withdrawal faces a 10% additional tax on top of ordinary income tax.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 72 – Annuities; Certain Proceeds of Endowment and Life Insurance Contracts The penalty applies to both non-qualified annuities and qualified annuities held inside retirement accounts.8Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 410, Pensions and Annuities
Several situations avoid the penalty: distributions after the holder’s death or disability, a series of substantially equal periodic payments based on life expectancy, payments from immediate annuities, and certain distributions from qualified employer plans. If you are under 50, this rule is one of the most important things to weigh before buying, because your money can be locked up for decades before it is freely accessible.
Late-Life Rules: QLACs and RMDs
A Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract (QLAC) is a deferred annuity designed for retirement accounts. You can fund one from a traditional IRA or employer plan and push the income start date as late as age 85.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1098-Q The amount inside the QLAC is excluded from the balance used to calculate required minimum distributions, letting the rest of your retirement savings stretch further. For 2026, you can put up to $210,000 in total QLAC premiums across all your retirement accounts.10Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs
If you buy an annuity inside a traditional IRA or 401(k), required minimum distribution rules apply. You must start withdrawals by April 1 of the year after you turn 73 if you were born between 1951 and 1959, or after you turn 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. Falling short of the required amount in a given year triggers a 25% excise tax on the shortfall.11Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) Before you buy a qualified annuity late in life, confirm the payout structure will satisfy those requirements. Non-qualified annuities, bought with after-tax money outside a retirement account, are not subject to RMD rules at all.