[eweissenbach]

Seven percent most certainly seems a little over-aggressive to say the least in this interest rate environment. The best annuity concept I have seen was Principal Financial's "five for life" annuity. (full disclosure; I retired from Principal but did not work in the annuity department). The five for life annuity guaranteed a withdrawal rate of five percent of the original investment for as long as you lived. You invested in seperate accounts (perform like mutual funds) and every five years your account would be examined. If it had grown, you would receive a guarantee of five percent on the new account balance, again guaranteed for life. If it had not grown, or decreased you continued to receive the original withdrawal amount. Every five years the account would be reviewed and if at any time the account had grown, you received a new withdrawal amount based on the larger balance. It offered the opportunity for growth with a baseline guarantee that is more than the four percent many financial advisors recommend one take as a withdrawal from their retirement funds. I don't know whether Principal still offers that annuity, though I would guess they do, and they are a top rated financial company.