Trusting the full faith and credit of the United States government? Good Old Uncle Sam? He went bankrupt years ago and started buying his own government bonds back because no one else wants them. The sooner you realize what is safe and not safe in the investment world, the sooner you can protect your money from catastrophic losses. Paycheck insurance,  Living Death insurance; whatever you call it, is available with "guaranteed" income from highly rated insurance carriers who smartly -- not only keep each dollar of your principal in their possession (invested yes but available); they keep 3-6 pennies on top of every dollar in their reserves!

State guarantee funds* dictate how much reserves a carrier has to possess in each state they operate in. The key is insurance carriers are equitable, have been equitable for well over a 150 years since the first American Experience Table of Mortality was created for uniformity of insurance carriers. That first death rate table was based on death rates during the time Abe Lincoln was still alive but was the start of updates in mortality until now helping carriers know how to set rates and charge for life insurance true costs. 

If an insurance company is willing to guarantee you guaranteed lifetime monthly income for the rest of your life, you can be well assured their actuaries do so with proper financial tools and protections. Such proper financial tools and protections no longer exist or at least are being ignored by US government money managers. And that can only end badly when the Debt Clock just can't go on another day without major, prolonged and agonizing...  even deadly calamity and catastrophic losses for retirement investors who didn't find paycheck insurance.

* State Guarantee Funds are forbidden to be used in a sales presentation. Nevertheless, they exist in every state in the United States that allows a carrier to sell insurance contracts in it.