As the average lifespan increases, more high-income Americans find themselves facing the risk of outliving their retirement savings if markets underperform.

Investment risk offers the potential for greater income – but not without the possibility of investment losses that can strain a portfolio’s ability to provide reliable income for more than 20-30 years. As a result, retirees who invest in an unprotected retirement portfolio will need to significantly reduce spending to avoid the risk of outliving savings if markets fall early in retirement.

Fortunately, a new kind of solution called a Contingent Deferred Annuity provides lifetime income protection for an investment portfolio via a pure insurance product that doesn’t require the protected assets be held within an annuity structure.

Establishing a fixed guaranteed stream of income for life enables individual investors to confidently allocate more to equities without the fear of a terrible market event – and can offer more upside potential than a portfolio of bonds or traditional income annuities.