Deferred annuities form another element in the scheme. These annuities are very varied in kind, and the amount of prenium depends on a great number of conditions— amount of annuity; age and sex of the person; length of term for which the annuity is deferred (that is. the number of years which are to pass before the commencement of the annuity); mode in which the premium is to be paid; and the condition whether or not there is to be any return of purchase-money under certain contingencies. As examples, take the following: A man aged 30 may purchase a deferred annuity of £10, to commence on his reaching the age of 60,and due half-yearly, for one immediate payment of £21 3s.4d., or an annual payment of £1 Ss. 4(1.; in the case of a woman, the immediate or total pay ment would be £82 Ss. 4d., and the annual payment £1 17s. Gd. if the person on whose life the annuity is to depend should die before the annuity itself commences, all the premiums paid up to that date may he returned to his or her representatives, provided a contract to this effect is made iu the first instance. The premiums are necessarily higher for such a contract. The four sums just mentioned, where past premiums are wit returnable, would be raised respectively to £40 Os. 2d., £2 Os. 10d., £47 Os. 10d., and £2 7s. Gd., with the returnable clause included.
Many persons in humble life would prefer that the annuities due to them should come more frequently than half-yearly. To suit this class, a system of deferred monthly
allowances is established. A man aged 30 may purchase a deferred allowance of £2 7s. 3d. per month, to commence when he reaches the age of 60, by a payment of 8s. per month, until he reaches that age; the same monthly payment by a woman would realize a monthly allowance of £1 16s. 7d. If the returnable clause (above noticed) is included in the contract, the man's monthly allowance would be £1 14s. 2d., and the woman's £1 Os. 4d., for the like payment of 8s. per month. In regard to married couples, a husband and wife may each be insured to the full amount of £100, and may each pur chase an annuity of £50, or a monthly allowance of £4 3s. 4d.
Persons hose lives are insured, or to whom annuities are granted, through the post office, have direct government for the payment of the money at the proper time; and this is one of the many valuable features of the system. It is not necessary here to describe the exact routine of proceedings for making an insurance or purchasing an annuity; the postmasters whose post-offices have been raised to the rank of insurance offices, are fully instructed in the matter, and will give all requisite information to applicants. We may add, that the British Postal Guide, an authorized publication, issued quarterly at Gd., gives a considerable list of tables of premiums payable at various ages for various kinds of insurance and annuity.