Annuity

For other uses, see Annuity.

The term annuity is used in finance theory to refer to any terminating stream of fixed payments over a specified period of time. This usage is most commonly seen in academic discussions of finance, usually in connection with the valuation of the stream of payments, taking into account time value of money concepts such as interest rate and future value.

Examples of annuities are regular deposits to a savings account, monthly home mortgage payments and monthly insurance payments. Annuities are classified by payment dates. The payments (deposits) may be made weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, or at any other interval of time.

Ordinary annuity

An ordinary annuity (also referred as annuity-immediate) is an annuity whose payments are made at the end of each period (e.g. a month, a year). The values of an ordinary annuity can be calculated through the following:

Formulae

Let:

$r$ = the annual interest rate.

$t$ = the number of years.

$m$ = the number of periods per year.

$i$ = the interest rate per period.

$n$ = the number of periods.

Note:

$i={\frac {r}{m}}$

$n=tm$

Also let:

$P$ = the principal (or present value).

$S$ = the future value of an annuity.

$R$ = the periodic payment in an annuity (the amortized payment).

$S\,=\,R\left[{\frac {\left(1+i\right)^{n}-1}{i}}\right]\,=\,R\cdot s_{{\overline {n}}|i}$ (annuity notation)

Also:

$P\,=\,R\left[{\frac {1-{\frac {1}{\left(1+i\right)^{n}}}}{i}}\right]=R\cdot a_{{\overline {n}}|i}$

Clearly, in the limit as $n$ increases,

$\lim _{n\,\rightarrow \,\infty }\,P\,=\,{\frac {R}{i}}$

Thus even an infinite series of finite payments with a non-zero discount rate has a finite Present Value (q.v. Perpetuity).

Proof

The next payment is to be paid in one period. Thus, the present value is computed to be:

$P\,=\,{\frac {R}{1+i}}+{\frac {R}{(1+i)^{2}}}+\dots +{\frac {R}{(1+i)^{n}}}={\frac {R}{1+i}}\left[1+{\frac {1}{1+i}}+{\frac {1}{(1+i)^{2}}}+\dots +{\frac {1}{(1+i)^{n-1}}}\right].$

We notice that the second term is a geometric progression of scale factor $1$ and of common ratio ${\frac {1}{1+i}}$. We can write

$P\,=\,{\frac {R}{1+i}}\times {\frac {1-{\frac {1}{(1+i)^{n}}}}{1-{\frac {1}{1+i}}}}.$

Finally, after simplifications, we obtain

$P\,=\,{\frac {R}{i}}\left[1-{\frac {1}{(1+i)^{n}}}\right]={\frac {Rm}{r}}\left[1-{\frac {1}{(1+{\frac {r}{m}})^{(tm)}}}\right].$

Similarly, we can prove the formula for the future value. The payment made at the end of the last year would accumulate no interest and the payment made at the end of the first year would accumulate interest for a total of (n-1) years. Therefore,

$S\,=\,R+R(1+i)+R(1+i)^{2}+\dots +R(1+i)^{n-1}=R\left[1+(1+i)+(1+i)^{2}+\dots +(1+i)^{n-1}\right].$

Hence:

$S\,=\,R\left[{\frac {(1+i)^{n}-1}{i}}\right].$

Annuity-due

An annuity-due is an annuity whose payments are made at the beginning of each period. Deposits in savings, rent payments, and insurance premiums are examples of annuities due.

Because each annuity payment is allowed to compound for one extra period, the value of an annuity-due is equal to the value of the corresponding ordinary annuity multiplied by (1+i). Thus, the future value of an annuity-due can be calculated through the formula (variables named as above):

$S\,=\,R\left[{(1+i)^{n+1}-1 \over i}\right]-R\,=\,R\cdot {\ddot {s}}_{{\overline {n|}}i}$ (annuity notation)

It can also be written as

$S\,=\,R\left[{\frac {\left(1+i\right)^{n}-1}{i}}\right](1+i)\,=\,R\cdot s_{{\overline {n}}|r}$$(1+i)$

Another intuitive way to interpret an annuity-due is as the sum of one annuity payment now (at time = 0) and an ordinary annuity without an annuity payment at the end of the last period (e.g. n-1).

Other types of annuities

• Fixed annuities - These are annuities with fixed payments. They are primarily used for low risk investments like government securities or corporate bonds. Fixed annuities offer a fixed rate up to ten years but are not regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

• Variable annuities - Unlike fixed annuities, these are regulated by the SEC. They allow you to invest in portions of money markets.

• Equity-indexed annuities - Lump sum payments are made to an insurance company.

Annuity due is useful for lease payment calculations

See also

• Perpetuity
• Deferred Annuity, also called ordinary annuity
• Life Annuity

External links

• Annuities: Ordinary? Due? What Do I Do? -- Annuity tutorial (with quiz) from Prof. John Wachowicz at the University of Tennessee.
• Non-commercial webform to calculate annuities
• Non-commercial webform to calculate present value of annuities
• Non-commercial webform to calculate future value of annuities