[greedy4chips]

Yes I did mean Cds and Bonds for a risk free type of investment. If inflation and taxes are a factor then every investment is at risk of not keeping pace regardless of earnings. Either Brazil or Venezuala had 2000% inflation in the 80's from what I remember hearing on the news.

Annuities have such a bad reputation because of the high commission fees. If I needed a stable earnings for the rest of my life I would just put all my money into CDs and any interest earned would go to me on a monthly basis instead of reinvested into the CD. Obviously I would have to have enough money to generate the needed income to live this way without touching the principle to gurantee being able to outlive the money. If not then I would have to tap into the principle, but that creates a declining principle and possible interest earnings.

All this is of course subject to interest rates on CDs and if they drop too low then we will have to take on additional risk to ensure enough growth to cover our income needs.

If I had $1 million in CDs right now I could live very well on the interest alone. That would not however be enough for me to completely retire on. Considering I am 39, I believe I would need 2-3 million in CDs to allow me to still grow the principle while living off a portion of the interest for the rest of my life.