This specific ruling took a look at a common issue for many qualified account holders and solved that issue through the creation of a QLAC. The ruling made the purchase of Deferred Income Annuities with tax qualified funds a more attractive option (qualified funds includes IRAs or 401k accounts).

Before July of 2014, the only way to purchase a deferred income annuity with tax qualified funds was to meet a specific IRS mandated RMD rule by starting your guaranteed income payments when you reached age 70 ½. This changed after the ruling, and if your deferred income annuity now meets a couple of predetermined requirements (see section further down on this page), it can be defined as a Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract. This means that you could defer the beginning of your income payments to later in live, as late as 85 years. Additionally you could bypass the normal required minimum distribution rules on the funds that are allocated to your QLAC.