Charitable annuities

[nkt0]

My father is a very risk averse person. He also doesn't understand investing at all. He has a small nest egg and continues to work part-time while also drawing SS.

Yesterday, i got a mailer from the ACLU about their charitable annuity program. The rates they offer are tied to age, but for my father, it would be about 5.3%. He has always claimed that if he could just get 5% guaranteed return, he would be happy.

Any thoughts or experiences with these kinds of annuities?

[ixtap]

In for the responses. For now, everything goes to our parents if we die together, but eventually we will be looking at charities.

Would this kind of annuity be an appropriate use of your bond allocation, for example?