A working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that most people buy far fewer annuities than economic models suggest they should — and that the common objections used to explain this gap do not hold up under scrutiny. The research examines the standard arguments against annuities: fees, loss of liquidity, bequest motives, and the idea that Social Security already provides enough guaranteed income. It finds that while these objections sound reasonable in the abstract, they apply only to a narrow subset of retirees and require a level of financial sophistication to evaluate that most people do not have. The real barrier to annuity adoption, the paper concludes, is not that the products are unsuitable — it is that the systems and conversations through which people encounter them are poorly designed. Better institutional framing, smarter defaults, and clearer guidance at the point of decision are more likely to close the gap than any amount of financial education delivered in isolation.