My 72yr old mother in law (in good health)  has a 7yr fixed annuity that is coming due soon.  She invested 50k and it is now worth 60k.  She is being told that if she rolls it into another 7yr  annuity she will not have to pay fees and taxes yet.  (the surrender value shows $487.00)
She is not comfortable with having a long term investment that is not FDIC insured.  She's definitely on the 'nervous' side of all this investing 'stuff'.  Is this correct that these are not FDIC insured?  She does not like having the money 'tied up' even tho it is unlikely she would want to use it other than an emergency. 
Are there other 'safe/low risk' investments that may work better for her?  If it helps/matters, she has an annual fixed income of $22,800 and owns her home.

>>She does not like having the money 'tied up' even tho it is unlikely she would want to use it other than an emergency.

I agree with your mother-in-law, but I'm prejudiced against annuities of any kind.  And there's nothing wrong with having money available for an emergency.  She would probably be a lot happier with her money in a ladder of FDIC insured CDs stretching out 5 years or so.

Hedge

<i> She invested 50k and it is now worth 60k. </i>

A CD would give her better returns and be FDIC insured.  20% over 7yr  (less than 3% a year without compounding) is very low return for a high risk investment.  The advisor that put her in it maybe making more than she is off the investment. 

Debra

Thanks Hedge and VKG - These posts were really very helpful to us.  We've talked to my mother in law and she feels much better about the CD's -  We actually thought she was doing okay with the annuities - but my husband new the general opinion was to stay away from them.  Thank you both for a very helpful second opinion!