He proceeded to tell me proudly that he had sold more of a certain type of deferred annuity than anyone else in the U.S. Obviously, no matter what his clients need, they get a deferred annuity.

FORBES: Watch Your Assets

If some day you do reach the happy position of achieving your retirement savings objectives, you can reduce stress even further by putting some of that money into a low-cost annuity that will guarantee you a certain level of income for the rest of your life (options that cover a surviving spouse, or are indexed for inflation, are available but reduce annual income).

FORBES: Retirement