Re "actuarilly neutral," this is a statistical concept and obviously the way to run an insurance company's P&L.
But an individual is not a statistic. For an individual the choices are IMO not likely to be financially neutral. The individual's predicted lifetime is probably not that same as the statistical predictions. Good health, long-lived family, poor health, etc. are all relevant. Inflation expectations are also relevant, as is total portfolio value. If total portfolio is large relative to the annuity, then making the wrong decision may not be all that risky in terms of impact. At 20% of retirement savings, that is probably the case here. Not that one does not want to optimize every penny, but it is less important than it would be if the annuity were 80% of the stash and there were no pensions.
[rant[] This idea that I am not a statistic is something I often have to remind doctors about. I am a sample of one. I cannot be, for example, 80% dead. When dealing with a sample of one, statistical information may not be totally irrelevant, but it is also not gospel. The devil is in the individual's details. [/rant]