Annuities can help clients accumulate wealth in two ways: 1) through tax-deferred accumulation, and, 2) through the efficient funding of retirement income. The additional tax deferral that can be accessed through low-cost variable annuities can be beneficial to high income earners who quickly max out their 401(k)s and IRAs. Academic research shows that annuities can fund retirement income more efficiently than traditional fixed income portfolios. By requiring fewer assets to generate income than traditional fixed income strategies, allocating to an annuity to fund essential retirement expenses leaves a greater share of a client’s portfolio to be invested in long term equity strategies that leverage accumulation potential.