Dave --

Right you are; I guess I misakenly made the association between between a 403B(7) account and an annuity because so many 403(B) plans essentially force their investors into an annuity plan. If there is a way to invest in a 403B without an annuity wrapper that is obviously the best of all worlds. The second best is a very low cost annuity wrapper around quality, low cost subaccounts. The worst of all worlds is a high annuity charge coupled with high cost, poor performing subaccounts. My caution to Flocky was simply that if one is not careful, one can be hoodwinked into paying for an expensive annuity wrapper to get to otherwise good performing, low expense subaccounts. In my experience, TIAA-CREF with its low cost, generally unrestrictive annuity wrapper and quality subaccounts is a good way to go for those who have that option. I nevertheless agree with you that if you can avoid the annuity altogether and get at quality funds like Vanguard, that is the best choice.

jtmitch