retirement professionals and planners began realizing the possible drawbacks that go with the 401(k): Annual management and administration costs and stock market losses compiled to eat into a retirement in a big way.

FIXED INDEXED RETIREMENT ANNUITIES

There are now safe and guaranteed annuity products called fixed indexed retirement annuities. They provide not only protection against any principle losses, but a guaranteed opportunity to double your money by taking advantage of extra features and benefits. Here is how they work: Many indexed annuities offer a bonus as the incentive to open the account. On a 10 percent bonus, your actual contract reads $110,000 (based on a $100,000 deposit). You get protection of principle (minus surrender charges for premature withdrawals) and if you "annuitize" (take retirement) with the company of origination, you will receive an income for life that you cannot outlive. You can also contract for an income rider at a cost of $400 on a $100,000 deposit that currently guarantees seven or eight percent interest per year for a 10-year period (which will double your initial investment if left untouched to $200,000).

Fixed indexed annuities generally use the Standard & Poors index to calculate the gains (nothing is invested in stocks or bonds). When the index goes up, your value may rise to the applicable index cap rate (insurance companies will usually "cap" the rate at between 8 and 11 percent). If the index decreases, your contract's accumulation does not lose value like the