Life Insurance Policies:

Annuities and Pension: There is an increased need for Retirement Plan due to Increase in Life Expectancy & Increase in the Cost of Living (Medical Expenditure). In an annuity, the insurer agrees to pay the insured a stipulated sum of money periodically. The main purpose of an annuity is to protect against risk as well as provide money in the form of pension at regular intervals.
There are two kinds of Pension policies-The Immediate Annuity and The Deferred Annuity. In the former, you have to invest a lump sum and start receiving pensions immediately. In the latter, you start building a corpus at a young age & on retirement; you receive annuities out of this corpus.