Abstract: A method of administering income distributions from an employer-sponsored retirement plan having a participant account value comprises providing an option to a plan participant to elect lifetime payout funded by at least a portion of the participant's account value; providing an option to the participant to elect an excess period during which a participant maintains control over the portion of the account value; transferring the portion of the participant's account value into a group annuity contract; determining an initial benefit payment under the terms of the group annuity contract; determining a subsequent benefit payment; and paying the initial and subsequent payments to the participant. Other embodiments include one or more of these, and the step of determining a charge to be paid by the participant for the guaranteed lifetime payout.