Suze Orman has a piece posted online called Truth About Annuities. About half way down the post she addresses variable annuities. Her explanation has a few mischaracterizations, but all in all she lays it out in an understandable manner. She seems to question the economics of tax deferral, but her treatment of variable annuities isn’t as negative as some of her 2009 and 2010 YouTube videos.
No, Suze Orman does not like variable annuities. She does like single premium deferred annuities, and sometimes likes medical annuities for older persons. However, she does not like variable annuities. She feels they are too complicated and that the fees are too high, among other things.
http://apps.suzeorman.com/igsbase/igstemplate.cfm?SRC=MD012&SRCN=aoedetails&GnavID=84&SnavID=29&TnavID&AreasofExpertiseID=107