Annuities sometimes seem like "The Three Faces of Eve." You get people who love 'em, people who hate 'em and some just don't know.

I want to direct you to an article in a trade journal that confronts this "multiple personality" issue of annuities. It's written by Harold Evensky who is a noted thought leader in the financial planning community.

Mr. Evensky walks through his conversion from annuity basher to, when appropriate, annuity proponent. His conversion boils down to "framing."

I believe that much of the acrimony in the VA debate is a result poor framing. Investment vs. Risk Management --- If a VA policy is considered simply as an investment product, the noninvestment features are instantly relegated to a minor, minimal-value role. If however, the recommendation of a VA is considered only one of two important recommendations---namely as a risk-management tool---the noninvestment features (particularly the mortality and life income guarantees) may be raised to a significant level.

I'm interested in reading reader feedback in the months ahead. I'll let you know what sort of reaction this get.