In a kinder universe, retirees wouldn’t need to worry about market volatility or outliving their money. But 2022 was a nail-biter: Bonds plunged alongside stocks, and many people in or nearing retirement wanted investments that would guarantee a smoother ride.

Many of them turned to annuities, whose sales surged 22 percent to an estimated $310 billion in 2022 — topping the previous record set in 2008, according to LIMRA, an insurance industry trade group. People primarily use annuities in a few ways — to accumulate savings in investments on a tax-deferred basis, to turn the money they’ve accumulated into a guaranteed lifelong income stream or both.

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