Article: Lump Sum or Annuity: Which One Is Better?

By Mark Davis, The Kansas City Star, Mo. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Oct. 27--Here's a retirement question without a wrong answer: Lump sum or annuity?

Unfortunately, there's not a right answer either.

Nearly all workers covered by a traditional pension plan face this question as employers increasingly offer retiring employees a choice of how to take home those earned benefits.

The traditional choice is an annuity. It pays the pensioner the same amount of money every month for the rest of his life.

The alternative is a lump sum. It's one big check instead of the stream of smaller monthly checks. The idea is that ...

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