Annuities are like life insurance and retirement accounts. For some persons, an annuity is an option that could work as part of the estate planning puzzle. Annuities are not for everyone, however. As with life insurance, there are many different plans on the market. Some are set up for immediate payments and some for payments to start sometime in the future. It is also possible to have a guaranteed payment period but, because you don't know when you will die, it's hard to say whether your family will reap any benefit from an annuity plan.

Because life insurance, retirement accounts, and annuities are paid to the person or persons you name as beneficiaries, it is important that you obtain a copy of your beneficiary election forms if you have any of these investments. You would be surprised how many times the beneficiary elections are not what you thought they were. This could be because you forgot who you named, or the information was improperly recorded by the company.