For years, people have been taught that maintaining liquidity of assets, particularly at retirement, is beneficial. One's liquidity, that is, monies he/she controls and has ready access to for discretionary withdrawals, translates into uncertainty to the company holding those assets because they can be withdrawn at any time. If one can increase a depository's certainty, for example, by assuring it that monies won't be withdrawn for five years, it will pay him/her a bonus. Insurance companies likewise will pay for certainty. With fixed-term annuities, the insurance company will pay a guaranteed attractive rate of return for a predetermined length of time, as opposed to a "life" annuity based on one's actuarial life expectancy. If a person is approaching retirement, he/she needs to find the optimal payout product (or combination of products) that meets his/her family's needs. The author stresses that by using innovative and creative approaches to retirement planning, people can allocate their retirement account values to a series of fixed-term annuities that are layered to maximize their monthly payouts, maximize tax efficiencies, and eliminate any risk of market collapse.