Concerning life annuities

Abstract

This seems to be the first English translation of this paper from the French original, ``Sur les rentes viageres''. In the paper, Euler gives a general formula for calculating the price of a life annuity that yields a certain amount per year, assuming the annuity manager can get a 5 percent return, for people of different ages. He also gives formulas to calculate the price of annuities that only start to pay out a certain number of years after they are purchased. He gives many numerical examples, giving tables for the prices of annuities for annuitants up to 90 years old.