Pension help

mcnultyj

Hi,

My father has recently passed away and I am "trying" to help my mother decide what to do with his pension. My father has worked with an independent financial company, who dealt with all his affairs, for a number of years, and he made all the decisions. Now the decisions are up to us, we are not sure what to do and would appreciate some advice.

For arguments sake, say the pension is worth £200,000. We have been given four options:

1) Take the money, but then subject to 35% tax
2) "Straightforward annuity" - which works out about 10k per year, subject to tax, but only last as long as my mother is alive.
3) "drawdown", value can rise or fall, but is available after death
4) "with profit annuity" - treated as an annuity but takes the flexibility of a drawdown but not available after death.

Our financial advisor has recommend the "with profit annuity".

Can anyone advise or make recommendations?

Thanks

James