The survey also found there's a vast difference between household income and household assets and whether these retirees are taking income from an annuity. Household income had little effect on annuity ownership, for example. About a third of retired households with incomes under $75,000 rely on income from an annuity; the retired households with incomes of more than $75,000 increased about five percentage points. 

However, household assets seemed to influence annuity ownership greatly.  Retirees with household assets under $100,000 are about half as likely to receive income from an annuity (22 percent) as those with assets of $250,000 to $499,000 (45 percent).  About 4 in 10 retired households with assets above $500,000 receive income from an annuity.

Only one-fifth of retirees who are receiving income from an annuity say they have received it from an immediate annuity.  The study found that all other annuity income recipients are taking withdrawals from their deferred annuities. 

"All of our research has revealed that consumers are attracted to guarantees with their financial products – especially when the economy is performing poorly," said Iqbal.  "This hold true for retirees as well.  Our study found that 40 percent of retirees receiving income from annuities say their annuity income is guaranteed for life.

 The online survey was conducted in October 2010.  Qualified respondents were aged 55 to 79; had been retired for at least one year and had not worked for pay within the past year; and had household incomes of at least $35,000. Furthermore, qualified respondents were personally involved in making decisions about their household savings and investments.