I am 37 years old and I have saved $18000 in an annuity. Do I have enough to retire?

I plan to retire at age 65. Do I need to invest in other funds to secure a future in retirement?

Oh my God! Don't tell me some slick insurance agent sold you an annuity. This is the worst "investment" tool. They are so bad they should really be illegal. The only one making money on an annuity is the seller and the manager, definitely no you.

Try to get out of the Annuity, if you can't then stop contributing, if you can't do that then contribute the absolute minimum.

Open an Roth IRA investing in some growth mutual funds look for 8 to 14% return a year. You are going to have to up your savings quite a bit, several hundred a month. If you have a 401k at work, start hitting that hard too, 6% or more per payday.

$18,000 is really nothing. I saved $10,000 by the time I was 25. You need a million this day and age to live off of for retirement.

You are way too young to be in an annuity! Did the person go on about how your you can't lose your principal? Anyway, you could add a zero to your 18,000 annuity and you still wouldn't have enough. I'm sorry to break it to you, but you have a long way to go. Consider opening an IRA at a discount broker such as scottrade, TD Ameritrade, or Charles Schwab. If you make under 80,000 open a Roth IRA and if you make over 80,000 open a traditional IRA. Try to tie a direct deposit to it and invest in some low fee ETFs or Mutual Funds such as QQQQ, VTI, or SPY.

Even if you get an incredible return of 15% you still won't even have a million at 65. I guess it depends on your standard of living and inflation.

You need to invest a whole lot more, unless you want to retire for only a year or two before dying or becoming a WalMart greeter.

Saving and investing is a lifestyle, not something you do once and then never worry about again.

Save 10% of your gross income for your entire life, invest it wisely, and you'll have a secure retirement.

Go to www.choosetosave.org and start putting in numbers. When you retire, you need about twenty times your annual income in order to live at the same level. If you only live on $20,000 now, you'd need $400,000 at 65 to continue at your current living level. If you're making 8% a year, it would take nine years for that amount to double (called The Rule of 72, look it up). If you're only making 6% a year, it would take 12 years to double. You'll need to keep saving and probably step up your savings, and I'd get into a Roth IRA to set aside the money so it won't be taxed later when you take it out.

Hey folks, sometimes the only option for retirement accounts for non-profits is the use of annuities (403b).

I am not a huge fan of the annuities for 37 year old investors, unless that is the only option available to them.

To answer your question....your retirement nest egg size needs to be based on how much you need. There is no "one size fits all" retirement amount.

First mistake: Annuities are expensive investment vehicles, usually only benefiting the seller.

Annuities are good for a few people that have already maxed out their 401K's and ROTH Ira's. Even among that group there's very few that would get a real tax benefit (especially after the high internal and external fees).

2nd mistake:
You were steered the wrong way already. Now you're asking ivesting advice from total strangers. Not a good idea.

Here's your answer: NO
Solution: Go to a major well known Mutual Fund Company like; VANGUARD, FIDELITY, T.ROWE PRICE etc. Or go to a broker. Before you do any of that spend 6 months to a year reading up on investing. Try the "Investing For Dummies" book first (it's really good).

I could show you the math why your $18,000 isn't enough.... but..... let's pretend it's worth $50,000.00 by the time you
retire. If you live 30 years it will net you around $200 a month.
IS THAT ENOUGH?