Annuity search

Sunday, 23rd May 2010 22:26 - by Resident IFA

In one of the TV breaks tonight, a new Paul Whitehouse ad popped up. You know the ones - good characters, quite watchable...nicely funding his pension plan. Of course, it was for Aviva, advertising their annuity (pension income) plans. I can vouch for their current rates, having placed a Client with them only last week. Rates do ebb and flow, however. The point I wish to make...and no doubt have made before...is the importance of shopping around for your retirement income. The annuity market is huge, and becoming larger year-on-year. The worst thing anyone approaching retirement can do is take their pension providers offer of income without further thought. It is pretty likely that you can achieve at least 5% higher per annum, sometimes a lot more. As well as this, there are other options such as:  Impaired/Enhanced annuities for those not in good health.  Unsecured Income (Previously known as 'Drawdown') for those who don't want to commit to a final income decision, but require their tax-free cash and/or some amount of income nonetheless. Above all, I still champion (Surprise, surprise!) Independent Financial Advice. An Adviser will do the donkey work for you and be responsible/accountable for their advice. A good example of the benefits of this could be the Client I gained 15.4% extra income for the other week by searching the whole annuity market. Oh, and they were happy for me to lessen their paperwork burden in the process, managing their application from start to finish. Until next time...