[Goldwingnut]

Rule #1 when investing - if you don’t understand what you’re investing in, don’t! If the person who’s recommending something can’t explain it to you so you can understand it, walk away.

If you’ve never heard of him, Dave Ramsey has a radio show (#3 nationally) that provides good financial guidance based on simple principles (don’t spend more than you make, save for retirement, don’t use credit cards, live debt free, etc) that is worth a listen. After nearly 20 years of listening to him I’m pretty sure he’d advise you not to buy an annuity.

Something to consider, if you give the money to this salesman (that truly is what you’re doing) you can never touch it again. They will give you a dole every month but you can never access the principal again. What if your life changes (that would never happen at 70 years old…) and tomorrow you need to lay your hands on some of the money, you can’t pull it from the annuity, that money is no longer yours to control. When you die, is there a survivorship? Likely not or very limited, maybe your spouse, but certainly it won’t continue yielding the monthly dole for generations to come. So what happens to the money, the company keeps it in payment for the “guaranteed income for life”. It’s not hard to figure out that they are betting on you not living as long as you are.