Thanks for kind words.
Hey, income funds on my mind lately, just past the 59.5 mark.
A look back at some notables this past year, sorted by APR highest to lowest:

Thanks msf.
Yeah - I realize you're buying insurance with an annuity. For some reason, this "insurance" appears to carry an expensive price tag. Sometimes insurance doesn't make sense. I rarely carry any, except for legally mandated PLPD, on vehicles over 4-5 years old. (Probably not a good analogy.)
VTINX, which you linked, is an interesting fund. It's about 30/70 equity/bond, compared to TRRIX at around 40/60. I've owned the latter a number of years and am quite fond of it as a substantial long term retirement holding.
Haven't studied all your leads yet - but intend to do so. Lots of food for thought here.
A final thought: While The two funds I mention look like they would provide a steady stream of decent retirement income and offer a high degree of principal protection over many decades, there's of course no assurance of that.

@hank - I'll try to address your questions as best I can. But I would first like to point out that there are subtle (and not so subtle) differences among the various products out there.
At the 50,000 foot level, annuities and other insurance products are just that - insurance. They aim to insure (guarantee) something that you want insured (e.g. that your checks won't run out, no matter how long you live). In contrast, noninsured products provide a different but related service - managing your cash flows so that it's likely (but not guaranteed) to last as long as you do, and likely (but not guaranteed) to remain relatively constant (with or without annual increases/inflation adjustments, depending on the product).
Mutual fund companies have come up with two different types of "managed payout" products to manage your cash flow. One is designed like an annuity - to spend down after a number of years (like a "term certain only" policy). Another is designed to last in perpetuity - drawing income only and preserving principal.
As the linked-to article points out, Vanguard and Schwab provide funds of the latter type. Vanguard had problems with its three funds (designed for different levels of growth/risk and different payout levels), and combined them into a single fund VTINX. Schwab still has its three funds:SWJRX, SWKRX, SWLRX.
Fidelity's Income Replacement Funds can be found here. Regarding PIMCO, it had two funds, PIMCO Real Income 2019 and 2029. Apparently they never got much traction and were liquidated Nov 14, 2014, shortly before their manager was dismissed for improper trading.
PIMCO still seems to offer a "Real Income Strategy" if you can figure out how to participate. (The page links only to generic mutual fund and separate account pages.)
If you'd like to compare these funds with how insurance companies invest, here's a two page paper on that from the Chicago Fed, April 2013.

If already posted, my apologies, but "Treasure Island" has an ace in the hole:
puerto-rico-new-age-tax-haven

Ted posted earlier that Oppenheimer muni funds have significant exposure to Puerto Rico bonds, > 20%, while the more conservative Vanguard funds have less than much lower exposure. Vanguard High Yield Tax Free fund has the highest exposure at 1.5%. The more pertinent question is why and who should be responsible to the investors.
There is no free lunch in investing. Juicing the yields have its consequences as Oppenheimer is facing today.

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2015/07/sp-500-intra-year-declines/print/

Lewis' link succenctly lays out three prime areas of concern with these. Agree with all.
Junkster's done a great job over recent weeks researching these and sharing his impressions.
He, msf, Bob C and some others on the board understand them far better than I do.
However, I can never get past the simple math that seems to show that they give you back over a roughly 15-year time-span (+ -) essentially all your money along with a very low rate of return (in the order of 1 or 2% compounded). Of course, it depends on how long you live. Exceeding that period produces a somewhat better rate of return.
I'm big on inflation protection. Maybe that's because my formative years budgeting & investing were during the highly inflationary 70s and 80s. That left a lasting impression. Of course, there's no assurance we'll witness anything like that again anytime soon. Still - I'd list the article's point #1 (inflation protection) as my biggest concern with these products.
Junkster's point-on about the current low interest rates pretty much torpedoing any chance for an annuity purchased today to provide an attractive return on investment. That's because the annuity company has to invest that money during your drawdown period, and there aren't a lot of attractive options right now.
I think Vanguard or some other fund provider once marketed a mutual fund which was meant to generate a modest rate of return and also provide a relatively safe monthly pay-out to retirees over time. Not an annuity in name - but having similar appeal. (Unlike an annuity, the years of payout would be finite.) Anyone know what fund that might be and whether it still exists? If it does exist, it's probably struggling against the same low-rate headwinds as any similar investment today.

Probably shouldn't be using a word like "fixed" when discussing investing markets. :)
A formal title for this, perhaps should be something like: "Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then." Thank you, Mr. Bob Seger for this insight thought.
As to next week July 13; well, and I don't know why :), but I still feel a little twitchy about Greece getting a real short term fix.
And I suppose I should be keeping in mind that only some of China equity is trading. 'Course, this country likely has enough real capital monies to shape whatever it needs for its internal equity markets and citizens.
Ms. Yellen's note on Friday about a small bump in rates didn't seem to bother the equity markets; and Europe had a very nice day, on Friday.
Other than the above items, is this as normal as it gets for the near future.......?
Well, anyway; from recent further reductions in investment grade bond holdings, our house has about 4.35% of a portfolio cash position that will be deployed next week, or at least, more than likely next week barring major baby black swans being born. Well, that's the thought at this time, anyway.
'Course, been looking at the oversold or down trodden areas. Latin America, as an example, is still a mess, IMO; and will likely remain in the dumper for the future. Not interested in commodities at this time, with the possible exception of energy; which we have been watching for so many months. This area is still having a rough time gaining upward momentum.
For the curious (yes, we all are, eh?) our current mix (evolving over the past two years) is:
---equity, 67.4%
---investment grade bonds, 28.2%
---cash, money market, 4.4%
EQUITY breakdown
---health/bio/pharma, (mostly U.S.) 41%
---blend U.S., VTI / ITOT type, 25%
---int'l, (mostly Euro), 20%
---real estate U.S., 14%
Well, the health related stuff is still happy; and the blend equity is around +2.4% YTD and the Euro area is doing well, too. U.S. real estate has been in a funk, but has had positive moves during the past few weeks, but this area remains in the negative for the year in the -3% range, depending upon the fund. Many IG bond holdings are pretty much flat and/or slightly negative YTD.
Just a little thinking outloud, Sunday morning, not enough coffee yet..........words.
Hoping that you find your investments, and you, to be happy during this "interesting" markets period.
Take care,
Catch

FYI: Will they stick with it?
Many investors are second guessing their decision to move into international stock funds, largely at the expense of U.S. stocks, in recent years. That’s because fear is spiking about troubles in Greece and China, while the U.S. economy continues to trudge along.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/investors-in-foreign-stock-funds-are-facing-a-stress-test/2015/07/09/d02d8770-2675-11e5-b621-b55e495e9b78_story.html

FYI: Puerto Rico's governor says the island's $72 billion debt load is too big to pay. OppenheimerFunds Inc., the largest mutual-fund holder of the bonds, disagrees.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20150711/FREE/150719987?template=printart

What's a bank account :-)
Seriously, the only bank accounts I have are for other benefits - a local bank account ($250 balance) to get a safe deposit box and a legacy BofA eChecking account ($0) to get a 10% bonus on my credit card cash rewards.
Bill pay, ATM, checking - all out of my brokerage accounts. Merrill Lynch pioneered CMAs a third of a century ago.
Yes, you can have VG transfer money to a bank account. Every time you get a dividend from a fund, you'll need to check that it has hit your settlement account, then transfer that amount to your bank. (VG will automate transfers, but you can't set it up for a variable amount, such as the dividends from a fund.)
I have VG fund dividends deposited directly and automatically into my non-VG brokerage account (where I have full CMA features), but that's because they are in VG fund accounts, not a VG brokerage account.
BTW, there can be a benefit to using a "real" bank. Some financial institutions won't set up links to brokerages. Capital One 360 (not to be confused with Capital One) would not set up a link to Fidelity (Fidelity uses UMB as its bank for checks, but the account doesn't show up as a "real" bank). But Capital One 360 had no problem setting up a link to Schwab bank (not a Schwab brokerage account), because that is a real bank.

Vanguard used to give you one account number for Vanguard MFs and a different account & number for investments bought thru the brokerage. Last year they consolidated - Vanguard funds, other family funds, stocks, etfs, etc. are all accounted for under one account/number now. (Of course you'll have more than one account if you have, for example, a taxable account and an IRA with them.) The consolidation made V. just like Fidelity in that regard.

This has some drawbacks. From the brokerage account, you cannot direct dividends into an outside account; you have to take the dividends in your core/settlement account and manually move them to your outside account. You cannot do a Roth conversion in dollars, you must specify shares. (This may matter in some states where IRA distributions, including Roth conversions are state tax exempt only up to a specified dollar amount.) And you can't write checks from a MM account within a brokerage.
That last one could be significant, since Vanguard does not provide cash management services (called a VanguardAdvantage account) for any price until you reach Voyager Select ($500K in Vanguard fund) level. Then they charge you $30/year, until you reach Flagship level ($1M).
See: https://personal.vanguard.com/us/whatweoffer/stocksbondscds/feescommissions
(click on fees for other services).
VanguardAdvantage description: https://personal.vanguard.com/us/help/FAQVAAContent.jsp
(Note: even though the fee/commission schedule is dated Jan 2015, I cannot find any application for a Vanguard Advantage account.)

Hi @AndyJ
Have not checked; but just from the top of the head recall.
The 60 day rule "sale" holding period for some funds is not necessarily a Fido fee, if I recall properly. Fido, of course; does have rules like this for some of their own funds (90 days, etc.) and other vendors set similar rules for some of their funds as well.
Sidenote: we have Fido brokerage accts. which we use to comingle everything (stocks, etfs, funds). About 3 years ago I did a "boo-boo" with an electronic purchase (wrong ticker, which of course means wrong fund). I was really busy during this time and realized 2-3 days after the fact that this wasn't the fund I had planned to purchase. This fund had a 60 or 90 day (short term trading fee of .75%). I called, spoke directly with a Fido rep., explained the situation (already had the fund and didn't want more) and they reversed the transaction.........ended with thank you; and there won't be any fee. Have a nice day.
A 5 minute phone call fix.
Anyone correct me on this, if you know otherwise.
Regards,
Catch

IMHO, physical access to brokerages is overrated. At Fidelity, if I have any complex issues, it seems they always need to call the back office - something I could just as easily do without standing there waiting for the rep to talk with someone on the phone.
Both T. Rowe Price and Vanguard seem to have originally set up their brokerages as a convenience for their fund investors. Comments you read from the nineties will reflect this. VBS (Vanguard Brokerage Services) changed clearing houses several years ago (it used to be Pershing, it is now self-clearing, like Schwab, Fidelity, etc.) More recent reviews reflect this improvement.
In contrast, T. Rowe Price still uses Pershing, as does TIAA-CREF, and many smaller brokerages. I know BobC has not had kind words about Pershing. My experiences with Pershing are more mixed, but at this point I wouldn't consider Pershing a plus.
T. Rowe Price, like most brokerages, gives you more perks as your total AUM increase. (At $100K, you get free M* membership.) In contrast, Vanguard only counts Vanguard investments (Vanguard funds, Vanguard ETFs, Vanguard annuities, etc.) toward your level of service. At $1M (Flagship), they'll give you 25 free TF fund trades/year.
As a fund investor what would attract me to Vanguard is their access to some institutional class shares at lower mins than you find elsewhere (e.g. PIMCO @ $25K vs. $100K at most other brokerages).
You asked about div reinvestment. Both brokerages do, here are their pages:
Vanguard dividend reinvestment
T. Rowe Price disclosures (open the 2nd to last disclosure at the bottom of the page)

Regarding liquidity risk, this is a reason why I (and others) suggest that an annuity be purchased only to cover essential cash flow needs, i.e. those expenses which you cannot reduce.
Reiterating one of the risks in the article cited by Lewis - inflation risk. I don't think it's as much of a risk for longevity insurance (assuming you buy enough to deal with inflation up to the point at which it starts paying), because that income stream won't go on for decades. But an immediate annuity could run for several decades, if you've got good health and luck.
Regarding insurance company risk - as a general rule of thumb, an insurance company cannot be rated higher than its sovereign's debt - thus S&P doesn't rate any insurer AAA. (S&P says that it's because they invest in - gasp - Treasuries.)
That article lists the 5 AAA insuers in 2011. That list hasn't changed much since then:
NYLife, TIAA-CREF, Knights of Columbus, Northwestern Mutual, and USAA.
(I got both that list and the quirk about sovereign debt from a TIAA-CREF rep I spoke with a few years ago; he said he had to explain to people why TIAA-CREF wasn't AAA rated anymore.)
Here's a 2014 list - it looks like Fitch downgraded USAA to Aa1 from Aaa (no other ratings agency made a change), otheriwse, all the usual suspects are still top rated. It also has Berkshire Hathaway and Gen Re in this top group.
Any of these insurers IMHO would be fine. I especially like TIAA-CREF because unlike the other insurers, it does not have a separate subsidiary in NY to comply with the more stringent NYS reserve requirements. I believe you get that same higher standard across all 50 states with this insurer.

@bee I think I'd like a little more "downside worked into the price," :) but definitely a sector to be moved to the top of the Watch List. By year's end, should have a better lay of the land.

http://www.crossingwallstreet.com/archives/2015/07/energy-resumes-downtrend.html

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
WSJ Slant:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-stock-futures-rally-on-greece-deal-hopes-1436531195
Bloomberg Slant:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-10/u-s-stock-index-futures-advance-as-greece-china-concerns-ease
Reuters Slant:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/10/us-markets-stocks-idUSKCN0PK17A20150710
MarketWatch Slant:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-leap-on-optimism-for-a-greek-deal-2015-07-10/print
WSJ Markets At A Glance:
http://markets.wsj.com/us
Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-tracker
Current Futures: (Up Big)
http://finviz.com/futures.ashx

Good point. I hadn't noticed that. Now that you mention it, I see that while most papers report things like Dow's worst day, biggest loss, etc., you do occasionally see "worst loss", e.g.:
Marketwatch: "The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its worst one-day point drop ..."
USA Today: "The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.6% to 17,718.54 in posting its worst point loss ..."
Morningstar: "The Nikkei ended down 3.1% at 19737.64 for its wost decline in percentage terms ..."

Our risk and return performance metrics through quarter ending June 2015 have been posted to the Search Tools, including updates to Three Alarm, Honor Roll, and Great Owl funds, and well as Dashboard of all funds profiled.

The $272M bond fund mentioned in the article that followed Gross to Janus (a UK fund), effective July 6th:
Old Mutual Total Return (USD) Bond Fund
http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/funds/snapshot/snapshot.aspx?id=F0GBR04N74