Look up a Gentleman by the name of Wade Pfau. He has written several books on retirement planning, and the one titled "Safety First" Retirement Planning has about half the book dedicated to the discussion of various types of annuities. While I am definitely not an annuity fan, I read the book on the advise of others to expand my knowledge on the various types of annuities. While I somewhat agree on hiring a fee based financial planner, I believe what you need first is to find a good tax accountant who can give you definitive advice on the tax based aspects of your situation. I believe that Pfau has a blog where you can ask questions pertinent to you situation.

In general, annuities are not your friend. But banks and brokers love them because of ongoing commissions.

Source?
 

OP -- where did the money come from?. Did you inherit it? If so, the rules change and have not been mentioned. The question initially lies with a CPA in your state, then with a CFP.

The tax table is misleading. You will not pay 37% on the full amount

Hmmm....FINRA regulator bait?..Just sayin'

The best option is to give me your money and trust me to do what’s best for both of us!! OH,, and take Social Security AS SOON AS you can!!

Whenever somebody wants to sell me an annuity, I RUN..... commissions, fees, riders..... they are not what they seem..

Closing an annuity
 

If your annuity is non-qualified that means some of the money was taxed and some was not. In my case the original investment was taxed and the profit made over the years has not been taxed. I was told by the company that the profit will be taxed as regular income and not as capital gains.

Consult a financial advisor! Plenty here for you…or wherever you are. Don’t consult an annuity guy. They’ll take their huge chunk up front. I had only annuities until I moved here. New hubby and financial advisor talked me into not buying more. They were RIGHT! Financial advisor put me in a moderately risky set of investments without annuities. Doing well! Monitored constantly. Waiting until my annuities ‘mature’ in order to get out of them or keep some depending on their growth. They’re only getting 2% now and I’m getting 8% in my other investments. Also consult your tax advisor.

Contact Ric Edelman's office at www.ricdelman.com for a free consultation.

Indexed mutual funds are a great place to put your money. In my opinion, annuities are among the worst places to put your money. They won’t give you that big an annuity, and usually when you die, it is gone. With a mutual fund, when you die, it can be passed on to your heirs. Put the money in the fund and leave it there. Don’t try to play the market. Don’t get nervous if it drops—it will go back up. You can arrange to have a certain amount put in your bank account every month, just like with Social Security, but better if you just let it grow. I like T Rowe Price New Horizons Fund right now. My mutual funds have doubled in value since the Fall of 2016. That’s 100% in five years. Don’t listen to the people who say that at your age you should put part of it in bonds, and part in the money market, etc. that’s how brokers get their fees and get rich. With a good indexed mutual fund from a company with a very good reputation, you pay very little in fees. By contrast, some of these brokerages and money managers will charge you a lot in fees, like thousands a year.

An annuity is an insurance product.
Exist for a reason and some people can make sense out of them for their situation.

[QUOTE=Gigi3000;1990445]Then consult an accounrant.
Advice is wortth what you pay for it.

Best answer yet...
:1rotfl::1rotfl::MOJE_whot:

[QUOTE=Gigi3000;1990350]I'm 63, cost basis $160000, gain $200000. Bank advisor offered indexed variable annunity, 10 year spread. Anyone familiar with these? I have no experience with annunities. Trying to figure out whether to take lump sum and just pay the $70000 tax bill or do the annunity. If I take the annunity I'd put it into index mutual funds. My situation is very simple...I have no income, lots of savings, no mortgage on home, no tax deductions. If take annunity, goal.would be income I guess. Not taking social security, maybe take at 65.or wait until 70...[/QUOTE

NEVER buy a variable annuity, I purchased one almost 20 years ago.
The commission the seller makes and annual maintenance fees are outrageous.
I am a Vanguard investor for 4 decades and should have known better, I listened to a "friend". I periodically make withdrawals and was lucky that the stock market was very strong. I should have just put the money in a S&P fund, Vanguard charges only 4 basis points, a year.