Millennials are looking for certainty when it comes to retirement planning—those who are doing anything about it, that is. And what they’re doing, in increasing numbers, is opting for—wait for it—annuities.

Yes, the younger generation is going for what is often regarded as the old stodgy standby.

Why?

Well, according to a study conducted by the Indexed Annuity Leadership Council (IALC), mistrust is the answer.

Millennials in particular are distrustful of traditional saving options, including IRAs and 401(k)s, and they’re turning to the guarantees of annuities to ensure that what they’ve saved can’t go down in value.

Read: Study shows immediate annuities need bigger place in retirement

While they’re by no means the only ones considering a savings vehicle that comes with a guaranteed income—43 percent of all respondents in the study said they were interested in annuities—they’re the biggest group to do so, with 52 percent saying that they’re “very” or “somewhat” interested in them.

It’s probably no surprise that millennials are looking for guarantees, after the turbulent market times they’ve been living through. In addition, out of all age groups, they’re the least prepared for retirement, with one out of every three saying they’ve saved no money toward retirement at all and a quarter of them saying that they owe more money than they’ve saved.

That kind of negative equity is pretty distressing, not to mention discouraging. And 18 percent say that their savings amounts to less than $5,000. Not exactly enough for a stay at the Ritz.

Whether they have managed to save money, or are only planning to, where do millennials think their retirement money will come from? Well, 46 percent say they’re planning to use their personal savings to finance their retirement, while 43 percent cited a 401(k) and 30 percent said an individual retirement account.

But of course they’re not the only ones who are ill-prepared to leave the workplace.

Scarier than millennials’ lack of savings is that of seniors who haven’t managed to put anything away for that long rainy day at the end of the job.

Despite the fact that net worth increases with age, the survey found that nearly 10 percent of seniors aged 70+ have less than $5,000 in savings.

Instant Insights /

Millennials choose&mdash;annuities?

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Millennials choose—annuities?