We need to remember that Jane Bryant Quinn is not in the investment business. She is in the business of sellng her column. She is subject to no scrutiny by any regulatory authority and can literally say anything she wants to say….for the simple reason it is a given that no one should take any action without checking with an investment professional, and she probably covers herself (or she should) with something in small print that says that.
As I said above, there is no silver bullet. Different assets and asset classes should be used, which have negative correlation. That means when one goes up the other goes down and vice versa. Some type of annuity is often useful when trying to lock in an income stream. However, in my experience it is almost never an immediate annuity (SPIA…single premium income annuity). They are usually the worst solution unless the person is at least 75. So if you are 65 or 60, what do you do. Well, if you are giving consideration to annuities (as a part, not all) then you would do well to review those “fancy, tax-deferred annities that make big promises about future income benefits.” She doesn’t specify whether she is talking about variable annuities or fixed annuities, which are two different animals. So at this point, her advice is pretty useless.
You have to look at how the person who is giving the advice gets paid. Jane is a columnist, She doesnt have to be right. She simply has to write something that will sell her column.