Must  I buy an Annuity?

Prior to April 6th 2011it was compulsory to purchase an annuity, it is now possible to defer annuity purchase indefinitely as a result of revisions to income drawdown and introduced flexible drawdown legislation. However, beyond age 75 you must have a minimum income of £20,000pa, known as a secured pension, if you want to continue with drawdown.

Income Drawdown, now known as 'Capped Drawdown', and Flexible drawdown may not be suitable or indeed available for everyone. There may be restrictions imposed by the pension provider; e.g. insufficient pension value; drawdown not being available from the pension provider - you could consider a transfer to another provider, although this will involve costs and should be thoroughly investigated.

Income Drawdown and Flexible Drawdown carry risks and may provide less income than a traditional annuity. We have a very useful comparison of annuities and drawdown calculator which can help people understand these risks and determine the amount of income that can be expected from the solutions available.

Open Market Option: Increase your annuity income

Annuity rates vary enormously between pension providers; the pension provider may not price their annuities according to health or lifestyle, they might have one annuity rate that fits all; apathy on behalf the annuitant can play a part - why offer competitive rates if the majority of your customers do not shop around?

It matters little who the pension provider is, in all cases those looking for an annuity should shop around to get the best annuity income, particularly if they fall into one or more of the following categories...

• Smoker
• overweight for height
• high blood pressure
• high cholesterol
• history of illness; heart attack, cancer, type 1 diabetes
• Certain postcode areas

To help determine how much extra income could be available we have produced an annuity calculator which demonstrates graphically the income from various annuities and options that one can expect to receive over their lifetime. We also offer access to live annuity quotes from leading annuity providers. Not all annuity providers offer quotations through this service, so call us for the widest choice of providers, therefore improving your prospect of securing more income throughout your retirement.

Annuity advice without obligation

Pension providers are unlikely to give any advice to help people decide which retirement plan is the most suitable for their needs. Any information they offer will be restricted to their own conventional annuity, so it is imperative that everyone considering an annuity shops around. Buying an annuity direct is not cheaper and in many cases can be more expensive. It is well worth taking time talking to a professional annuity adviser.

Help and advice arranging an annuity

We have a team of fully qualified professional annuity advisers ready to help you decide which annuity is right for you, whether that be a conventional annuity, fixed term annuity, impaired life annuity or income drawdown product.

Furthermore, we help with the application and administration procedures to ensure a seamless transfer of funds from pension provider to annuity provider. Along the way we will keep you informed at all stages and provide you with documentation of how and why we made a particular recommendation.

Finally, should you require our services for other financial matters, for example investments, inheritance tax planning, lifetime mortgages or life assurance then our wealth of financial knowledge is available to you.