Category Archives: annuity

We almost got a pensions dashboard….

Posted on October 30, 2019 by

It now seems unlikely that parliament will complete reading the Pensions Bill. The Bill introduces compulsion on employers to provide data to a pensions dashboard and it gives CDC the green light, at first for the Royal Mail and later … Continue reading →

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Learning how to buy pensions.

Posted on October 20, 2019 by

Mark Ormston who works for Retirement Line has written an excellent blog on linkedin. This is my version of his blog. Are people taking sub-optimal annuity decisions? The figures in the circles are  taken from the FCA Retirement income data report … Continue reading →

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What are deferred annuities and why do they matter?

Posted on October 2, 2019 by

  Cooper and Cumbo – Aussie dream team In a real example, an Aussie who bought a $10,000 deferred annuity at 65 would receive an annual income of $1741 a year from age 85, if they survived to that age. … Continue reading →

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Annuities – don’t knock ’em!

Posted on September 12, 2019 by

Unwelcome news for anyone looking to turn their pension pot into a secure retirement income. Rates are down due to low bond yields but also because there’s less competition in the market, following the #pensionfreedoms. https://t.co/NWAqReWjMi — Josephine Cumbo (@JosephineCumbo) … Continue reading →

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The cost of turning pot to pension

Posted on September 5, 2019 by

  I’m pleased to hear that Scottish Widows are planning to open their standard annuity product to the open market (previously only Scottish Widows customers could access this product). Their marketing people tell us It will be available directly from … Continue reading →

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No one should ever have to buy a poor annuity again.

Posted on September 1, 2019 by

I’ve just read an article that could best be described as smug. It’s written by a lawyer in the financial regulation team of Foot Anstey – Alan Hughes. I don’t know Alan but I know his firm and have a … Continue reading →

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One life – one retirement – two regulators

Posted on June 26, 2019 by

Yesterday’s Pension and Benefits UK conference kicked off with consecutive speech’s from TPR CEO Charles Counsell and the FCA’s Edwyn Schooling Latter. Counsell delivered a staid and unambitious rehearsal of tPR’s agenda and frankly I was bored. Schooling Latter spoke … Continue reading →

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Pension Income’s best kept secret

Posted on May 30, 2019 by

Did you know that when you buy an annuity you can change your mind? No? Well neither did I. I thought that once you handed your money over to an insurer that it was it, an income for life with … Continue reading →

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Let’s get back to those three pillars – promising us certain pensions.

Posted on January 20, 2019 by

There are at least three uncomplimentary ways of thinking about “pensions” in the UK . So disparate are these three that it is hard to talk (or blog) about them in the same place. For a small number of people, pensions … Continue reading →

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The price of being sick in the head

Posted on December 16, 2018 by

  “Sick in the head”? The phrase doesn’t quite work for Tina – a 38 year old Mum who suffered from post-natal depression and then found her life and critical illness insurances 30% more expensive than if she hadn’t declared … Continue reading →

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