The participants are getting smarter and they know they have other options outside of the annuity. For an individual that is looking for one or more of these benefits, the annuity is the right choice for them. They just want to make sure they look around for the best annuity for them in regards to payout options, and costs. You don't need 200 vendors to cover the market. That has never made sense to me.
Teachers are smart people.
It became clear that they do not want to entertain small balance accounts. Vanguard made it clear that their business is in taxable investors where they can require minimum initial investments. Their response was interesting. Anyway, there you have it. The evidence has been submitted, and it's now up to you, the jury, to sort this out once and for all.