By Tom Hegna

Over the past several years, Fixed Indexed Annuities (FIAs) have emerged as one of the top choices for soon-to-be-retirees due to their potential for wealth accumulation and lifetime income.

FIAs are continuing to become more mainstream and have become a go-to product for many baby boomers who tend to be more financially conservative and are looking for a balanced portfolio with a mix of high-risk and low-risk products.

This month, LIMRA, a worldwide research, learning and development organization, released their 2nd Quarter U.S. Annuity Survey and the numbers show just how popular the product is becoming. Below are the top three things to know:

1. Fixed Indexed Annuity (FIA) sales were $16.2 billion—30 percent higher than the prior year and greatly surpasses prior quarterly sales records.
2. In the first half of the year alone, FIA sales increase 32 percent to $31.9 billion, compared with the first six months of 2015.
3. LIMRA expects indexed annuity sales to exceed $60 billion by the end of the year.
   It’s no surprise that FIAs are increasing in popularity as many Americans are looking for guaranteed income streams, and the product can be designed with guaranteed income riders

A new study released by the Indexed Annuity Leadership Council found that nearly half of baby boomers don’t know that there are financial products that deliver can deliver guaranteed income through retirement – and I suspect that as more and more people learn that those products exist, FIA sales will continue to grow at an even higher rate.