Boomer or Bust: Your Financial Guide to Retirement, Health Care, Medicare, and Long-Term Care

Chapter 3. Annuities

	“I advise you to go on living solely to enrage those who are paying your annuities. It is the only pleasure I have left.”
	--Voltaire

Voltaire, the famous eighteenth-century philosopher and author, apparently was able to derive pleasure from annuities, but today, for many baby boomers and their parents, annuities are a confusing investment that too often bring financial distress to their owners.

Proponents of annuities have simply argued that they are secure investments that provide a guaranteed stream of income. Annuities might be particularly attractive to retirees whose lack of investment knowledge makes them hesitant to invest in the stock market either through direct stock ownership or through mutual funds. The apparent ...