Taking the time to go about examining the Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company reveals an insurance company that is a major provider of group retirement planning and services to mainly teachers and nurses. Many of the members of these two occupational groups rely upon the company to do the things necessary to provide them with retirement security once they do decide to pack it in and have fun in their golden years.

Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company is also known VALIC, and it has over 2 million individuals invested in the company through over 25,000 different group policies. It is also a very strong presence in the annuity market, helping many of the members of those different groups examine and decide upon the kind of annuity that would work best for them during their retirement years or even before then.

Annuities are generally sold only by insurance companies and there are a number of different types, including fixed rate annuities, variable rate annuities and several different types of annuities that pay out until the person who purchases the annuity (known as the annuitant) passes away. There are a number of different ways to purchase an annuity, with the two most common being purchase of the product with a lump sum payment and purchase of the product with a series of payments, sometimes occurring over years.

Many teachers and nurses who have a relationship with Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company are made aware of its different investment vehicles such as annuities very early in their working careers. The agents are known for helping persons participating through group policies or during other parts of the relationship they have with the company not only learn what they need to know about annuities but also how to gain comfort from the fact that their annuities will be helping them live out a nice retirement.

In 2008, Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company revenues came in at over $1.1 billion. There are only 360 people directly employed by the company, though there are a legion of independent agents servicing policies and customers throughout the country. It has a good reputation for the quality of the annuity products that it offers, which are mainly tailored to the teacher and nurse communities and the particular needs that teachers, most especially, have when it comes to ensuring a good retirement income once they put down their chalk.

Anybody considering annuities needs to understand that they can be an excellent investment vehicle, but they also need to understand that investing in an annuity from a company that doesn't have a solid reputation and hasn't been around for a while can be a bit risky. That's because an annuity from a company that goes out of business essentially disappears, leaving the annuitant high and dry. Fortunately, VALIC is one of the sterling companies in the business, pretty much guaranteeing all those teachers and nurses a lifetime of security.

In the end, it is incumbent upon everyone to ensure that they have some sort of retirement security, either in the form of company pensions, savings, Social Security or products like life insurance and annuities. Smart people actually look at all of these forms of retirement income and security and try to blend them all together. Their helped in this regard by insurance company agents, especially the ones working for VALIC.