An IRA is an account type. An annuity is a tax deferred investment and having one in an IRA is like opening an umbrella in your garage to avoid the rain. One tax deferral is sufficient. The annuity will also come with some fees that will make your salesman happy but probably not you.

If you are really leaning towards the income annuity Fidelity offers a few that offer investment options which can help you beat inflation or possibly even better. They also offer management which seems like a good solution for you. I’m sure schwab, vanguard and the other players offer similar annuities.

I think you need assistance in planning out income strategies and risk migitation and would recommend that you seek out multiple opinions on what to do with your 403b. You will roll it into an IRA or Annuity in order to take withdrawals. This decision is way to important to leave to an amateur. I am sure that anyone who offered you an annuity that doesn’t increase with inflation is just looking for the payout. Especially in early retirement. If you are planning on living an additional 30-40 years inflation will likely eat away at your income 3% annually leaving you at the end of your life with just 60-70% of what you have now. Get some good advice by making some calls and I wish you good luck and many years of retirement.

The interest rates fluctuate in the CD and especially in an IRA that has investments in the stock market. US Treasury bonds are considered riskless securities and you can lock in an interest rate but maturation of the bonds is an issue. You may lose a significant amount of interest if you have to cash the bonds in early.

I would avoid an IRA if you are looking to minimize risk. Unless you buy extremely low risk mutual funds. I would recommend doing all 3. Put some in an annuity to guarantee a certain amount, put some in CDs to be safe and get a higher return than the annuity and keep some in an IRA that is invested in a variety of low-risk mutual funds. Keep at least two years of expenses in the CDs and a money market account. This allows you to feel secure about being able to pay all the bills and also allowing your money in the market to grow through time.

Speak with people you know and get some recommendations from them on a financial advisor.

Check to make sure whether you have tax free gov bond options. Federal bonds are exempt from Federal income tax, and some states have state and municiple bonds exempt from all income tax (California does).