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.
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