Indexed annuities are a conservative place for retirement dollars. Indexed annuities usually provide a purchaser with various options for interest crediting. A buyer does have an option to elect a declared interest rate, which generally allows an allocation of anywhere from 0-100% of the account value, and functions the same as a traditional fixed annuity. However, the annuity is designed for higher potential interest, and provides other allocation options which consider the performance of an outside stock index (such as the Standard and Poor's 500, a.k.a. S&P 500) to determine the rate of interest. The objective of purchasing an index annuity is to have accumulation potential while providing guarantees of no loss of premium due to market downturns.