If you outlive the number of years paid into your annuity, it continues to pay out — guaranteed — for life. Straight life annuities do not include a death benefit, so payments can’t be made to a beneficiary. Is A Straight Life Policy Right For Me - Paradigmlifenet Blog Straight life annuity forgoes this added benefit in favor of higher guaranteed payments while the annuitant is alive. Straight life annuity payout . Because the payouts will be shorter in duration, they offer the highest periodic payments. Straight life fixed index annuity. A straight life retirement annuity means that the retiree will receive a monthly annuity payment for as long as she lives, and then the payments stop. Therefore, a “period certain” guarantees that payments are made for at least a certain period of time, such as for 20 years after the death of the insured. Additional payments aren’t made to a beneficiary. Funds in the annuity continue to earn this rate of return, minus payouts, over the li...