One believer is Bud Hebeler, 77, a retired Boeing executive who runs www.analyzenow.com, a retirement-planning website. He says annuities have made his retirement more secure, helping him avoid the problems that plague many retirees who rely primarily on their savings.

According to Financial Research Corp., a Boston research firm, a 65-year-old retiree who withdraws an inflation-adjusted $45,000 annually from a $1 million portfolio of stock and bond investments has a 25% chance of running out of money before age 92. But if the retiree gets the same annual income by investing $400,000 in an immediate annuity and withdrawing the rest from $600,000 invested in stocks and bonds, the chance of running out of money drops to 6%, the research firm says.

WSJ.Com Making The Case To Buy An Annuity