Annuities are contracts offered by insurance companies. They tout their one major advantage, lifetime income. They do their best to avoid telling all the other nasties that come along with these dread...Annuities are contracts offered by insurance companies. They tout their one major advantage, lifetime income. They do their best to avoid telling all the other nasties that come along with these dreadful products. But hey!, they are great sources of commissions for life insurance agents. And that's all that matters to the insurance industry.