In my opinion, for someone in their 30's who is willing to take on some risk, mutual funds are the best of the three options. It is still important to choose the right funds. For this I would suggest that the loads which you pay in order to have a good investment advisor are worth it. My opinion is that most people would be better off having someone that is a professional that can help them with investment decisions throughout their lifetime to help them stay on track and meet their objectives. There are two reasons why certain people might gear you toward annuities.
Annuities do generally pay a higher commission than mutual funds to a sales rep.
Also, most people that are in the 403b marketplace are annuity salespeople. Also, teachers, as a breed, are generally conservative and are adverse to risk. The vast majority of the teachers are in fixed annuities. It could be that they are geared that way. If I can answer any other questions for you, please email me.