Few insurers offer a guaranteed income product in the Canadian market. InsuranceINTEL, a sister publication of The Insurance Portal, lists a total of four products.

The table below presents key characteristics of these products.

It shows that:

• Sun Life offers two products: Sun Lifetime Advantage GIF and Sun GIF Solutions - Income Series. Each of the other two insurers in this segment offers one product. Empire Life offers Class Plus 3.0, and iA Financial Group’s product is called the FOR LIFE Series. 
• iA Financial Group lets customers invest the smallest amount, $100, in the Savings stage of its product. In the Income stage, a minimum initial deposit of $25,000 is required. Sun Life sets the same minimum amount for investment in its products. However, the company has confirmed that it will accept smaller initial deposits. At Empire Life, a minimum of $10,000 must be invested.
• For all products, the maturity benefit guarantee is 75 per cent. The death benefit is also 75 per cent for Empire Life and Sun Life products. This means that iA Financial Group is the only insurer to offer a death benefit guarantee of 100 per cent. However, this percentage decreases to 75 per cent if the client is 80 years of age or older at the time of the investment.

• Finally, an annuitant can start receiving a guaranteed income for life as early as age 50 with iA Financial Group and Sun Life products. Empire Life sets the minimum age at 55. For all products, the longer a client waits to receive the first payment, the higher the lifetime income.