The process of converting an annuity investment into a series of periodic income payments. Annuities may be annuitized regularly, over a long or short time period, or in some cases, in one single payment.

After an annuity has been through the process of annuitization, the investment is said to have been annuitized. Annuitized investments are not necessarily paid out completely to the beneficiaries. Depending on the terms of the annuity policy, some of the money could go to the person's estate, to a trust or to the insurance company, for example.