by KYW's Salil Gutt

History has shown the Federal Reserve, meaning the taxpayer, will bailout large financial companies who make huge losing bets.  Critics contend it will now make other financial companies take on a lot more risk. There is an annuity with very high expenses which tests this paradigm.

It's a revamp of the much maligned variable annuity. The new version promises investors the moon. Investment gains with zero risk plus a high steady monthly distribution for retirees as long as they wanted one. And yes. Let's not forget an expense ratio reaching to the skies plus a hefty sales commission to the salesman.

Its all too good to be true. Variable annuities are very complicated products and the fine print even trumps the pros.  An article in this month's issue of Smart Money magazine does a great job on reviewing this product and poses a provocative question. Where will the money come from to meet all of these guarantees if the investments don't pan out? 

With bailouts in mind management probably feels that monkey will be on some one else's back come the crunch.