Investment for retirement

Is it correct to invest all retirement money (IRA and 403B) in a Fixed Index Annuities at the age of 62?
We don’t have much savings but a good pension and Social Security. I am still working and will retire at age 64.

(I left a message last night without details)

Terry Says: There is absolutely NO reason to invest retirement money in an annuity — which is merely a tax-sheltered way to make your money grow!  Yes, some annuities do offer guarantees of a lifetime payment — and if you’ll read the recent article on my website about “longevity annuities”, they do have a small place in a retirement plan, if your plan offers that option.  But you can’t put more than 25 percent of your money into these products.

Second, if your money is inside an IRA or 403(b), I’m quite sure your plan doesn’t offer an equity-indexed annuity.  I tend to think of those as ripoffs, because if I’m thinking about the same product, they never give you the full growth of the index on which they are based.   Where did you hear about these products — some salesman trying to get you to take money from your retirement plan to buy these??

Why don’t you just stick with the more conservative mutual fund choices available inside your plan — and use an equity-income fund for your IRA.  You have a lot of years to make your money grow, and a lot of years ahead of you.  In fact, retiring at age 64 might be way too soon!