ExpertGlossary

An annuitant is a person who receives income from an annuity. If you receive a distribution from an annuity that you or your employer buys with your 401(k) assets, you're the annuitant.

Similarly, you're the annuitant if you take distributions from an individual retirement annuity (IRA) or from an individual annuity you buy with after-tax income.

If your beneficiary receives annuity income after your death, he or she becomes the annuitant. It's also possible to buy an annuity naming someone other than the buyer - a disabled child, for example - as annuitant.