Pension annuity tables

danny14

Does anyone know of any sites that display annuity tables for the various Insurance companys? Have visited various companys home pages but they do not appear to display there annuity rates.

moneyandmountains

The Financial Services Authority publish annuity tables for the different insurers on their website.

See http://www.fsa.gov.uk/tables

dunstonh

the FSA tables are unreliable (as are virtually all the tables) as they use old data. If you use a table and get the top 5, when you get the real quotes, the order will be different and the amounts different.

EdInvestor

https://www.annuity-bureau.co.uk also has tables and there are usually some on the Daily Mail site, https://www.thisismoney.co.uk

Look at all three together along with others mentioned to derive a consensus before approaching an advisor.

dunstonh

Annuity bureau's figures are 3 weeks out of date and they are already based on data which is sampled and averaged. I obtained an annuity quote today for someone and the top 3 companies coming out dont even appear on their list.

The Daily Mail site uses annuity bureau's data so same problem applies.

Use this info to get an idea of the figures but do not choose a provider on the basis of that data.

EdInvestor

Hargreaves Lansdown offers an instant online quote

BTW one thing that's always worth bearing in mind when using advisors at this point is that while commissions on annuities are low - typically 1% - clients will often also take advice on investing their pension tax-free cash lump sum at the same time.

And here lies a big opportunity for an advisor.Quite often an insurance bond will be recommended as it pays out a convenient "tax free income" (actually from your capital) and has other alleged advantages.

But what clients often don't realise is that charges on this product (unlike the accompanying annuity for the main fund) are typically very high - 7% upfront to the advisor is not unusual. (Unlike say an ISA/direct investment package - commission perhaps 2% - the bonds are also subject to taxes that you would otherwise not pay though these are often not mentioned.)

It's always useful I find to know how much advisors and brokers will earn on the various products- it helps in judging whether your advisor's interest is mainly in lining your pocket, or his own.

A new opportunity has recently arisen, to choose income drawdown instead of an annuity. This will usually net the advisor 3%, plus some ongoing commission, somewhat better than an annuity.An even more lucrative option may be the semi guaranteed plans such as Living Time, 5 for life etc. Their charges look to be even higher than investment bonds. :eek:

None of this is to say that these products will never be suitable. But it's as well to be aware that there are usually other cheaper options around. Keep asking until you find out what they are.

dunstonh

Ed, your anti adviser rants are getting pathetic. Why not stick to the subject and stop preaching about not using advisers to everyone.

danny14

Thanks to all for info.
danny