Enter:  Annuities.

In the most basic of the basic sense, an annuity is like an insurance policy to receive tax-deferred payments.

Sounds nice, right?  Yeah but OF COURSE more complicated than that.  For see, to wit …

Annuities are offered by insurance companies, basically two types:

• Variable annuities, $$$ invested stays separated/segregated from insurance company assets,
  and the return on/of(?) investment (ROI, whatevs) varies with the performance of the chosen “sub-accounts” for the securities
  — stock “sub-account”; investment portfolio pie mirrors the stock market
  — bond “sub-account” ; investment portfolio pie mirrors the bond market
  
  Provides:            = an income stream
                               = return of total principal invested … minus withdrawals, of course
                               … as long as untouched for specific period of time (say, 10+ years)

• Fixed annuities, commingled with insurance co. assets … so SPOILER ALERT
  … if insurance co goes under, bye-bye breadsticks / total $$$ invested is gone BUT
  = fixed rate of return, which is the trade-off FOR POTENTIALLY LOSING EVERYTHING
     so there’s that

The real beauty of annuities is that the $$$/investment/money grows tax-deferred, or no taxes paid until withdrawal … and if taxes aren’t paid – i.e., Money-Molesting Uncle Sam doesn’t get to fondle –then the money grows that much faster, bigger, longer, harder.

And that’s a good thing. 

The biggest(?) bad thing about annuities is also the biggest(?) good thing about annuities …
… intended for the long-term …
… early withdrawals from the annuity = income like a paycheck, so taxes are higher than capital gains (yah, figures)

But can still be a tasty piece of the investment portfolio pie,
just check the ingredients before adding to the recipe.