So I’m planning retirement funds and I have a few things in the works.

Pension at 74% of my base income (no OT)

407B I’ve been in for 28 years

No unsecured debt

House will be paid off in 2 years

Plan to work another 5 at a minimum

My question is would it be smart to do an annuity with a chunk of my savings and earn 7.5% over continuing to rotate CDs at 5%

I don’t know much about them but it seems like a safe way to earn interest on cash I don’t plan on using for 5-10 years

Really depends on what your goals are and whether it is just income for a lifetime or you want to leave a legacy for family.   Your pension is essentially a substantial annuity so unless you are worried that your pension and retirement account won’t be enough for your needs, it seems like leaving your other money in the market for the upside would be better than either an annuity (which normally costs you the asset when you die) or a CD or bond ladder.

Annuities vary wildly, make sure you read all the details and understand everything 101% before buying.  

Link to a guaranteed 7.5% annuity?  I doubt such terms exist.  

Annuities are generally not great investments, you buy them for the security/guarantee they provide.  Don’t buy from a fly by night company without a good history because if the company folds you’re out all your money.  

If you are invested only in CDs you’re doing it wrong, you need to have money in the markets to get any significant returns.  

Came to say basically this.  It has been my experience/opinion the annuities are only really good for those selling them.
For your money outside of your pension I would have CD/Cash equivalent to cover my needs for next 5 years or so.  The rest in diversified stock oriented investments.

Good advice… thank you.

I participate in my deferred comp program which is my only money in the stock market

Just worried about gambling any additional liquid cash in the market so CDs have been my go to

Mongo,

Do you live in a State with high State income taxes?  If so consider treasuries instead of CD’s.  They are State tax-free.

Long term I'm convinced the market is the best place to be.  Especially to offset inflation.  Historically I stayed in the market.
As outlined in another post, once you have a significant pot of money in cash equivalents if can be challenging to enter/reenter the market with that excess cash.  Especially when all of your common sense (and business education) screams that the current market is way overheated and due for a substantial pull back.  Hard to pull the trigger on the market when your opinion is it's overdue for a correction.  I know, I know, you can't time the market.  But even a dollar cost average approach gives me the jitters.

The best time to plant a garden is yesterday, the second best time is today.