Millions of Americans think so. For this additional amount, you receive a death benefit and the right to receive payments which are guaranteed to last for the rest of your life, no matter how long that is.  These valuable benefits are not available with other investments. People are living longer and Social Security and pension plans are projected to play diminishing roles in generating a retirement income stream in the future.  In this environment, the value of the ability of variable annuities to provide guaranteed lifetime income cannot be overstated.    

It's also important to realize that the additional cost of these insurance benefits is not that much. Based on data provided by Morningstar, the total average cost differential between variable annuities and mutual funds is only about 1.12 percent.