How to find a good annuity

zagfles

Telegraph_Sam wrote: »

Any suggestons?

This Guardian article http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/dec/14/buying-an-annuity-top-tips mentions Moneyworld as a good value one. http://www.moneyworld.com

Also there's http://www.annuitydiscount.co.uk

I've not used any myself (very much doubt I'd ever buy an annuity!).

I'd rather like to take the advice fees into the equation also!

Yes that's what I meant. Get a DIY quote and challenge an IFA to beat it after accounting for their fees.

dunstonh

Will this be stopped with RDR2?

The platform review only affects platforms. However, the FCA has just started a thematic review into the DIY market with various concerns being highlighted. Wether that leads to changes is not yet known. However, the consumer panel has a very strong voice and is taken notice of by the regulator and they want changes.

At least it buries the myth that DIY = no haggling.

It doesnt bury the myth. Most DIY sites use the electronic quotes. No haggling there. The person went direct to provider and got a bit more but that is not at all common in the DIY market.

jem16

zagfles wrote: »

Not really sure exact figures would have been that useful - we have approximate figures and with enhanced annuities it's bound to vary greatly.

We can get approximate figures from anywhere which most people knew before this thread started.

Without the final figure we have learned nothing new at all.

zagfles

jem16 wrote: »

We can get approximate figures from anywhere which most people knew before this thread started.

Without the final figure we have learned nothing new at all.

What use would an exact figure have been without knowing the exact details of the OP's health issues? (which he said he didn't want to go into).

jem16

zagfles wrote: »

What use would an exact figure have been without knowing the exact details of the OP's health issues? (which he said he didn't want to go into).

Online quotes, as you said, showed between £52 and £68pm. Yes I can replicate that using MAS with some rough guesses about how much he smokes.

How much higher than these online quotes did the OP end up with? OK we don't know exact health details, and I don't think we need to know, but it would have given us a rough idea of whether or not the Op managed to achieve a quote higher than £68pm, before and after going back to the provider.

One can assume that the reason the Op went back to the provider was because Dh posted figures which bettered his quote and he went back to try and get some more, which he did.

However did he get near Dh's figure or was he far away? Does he regret his choice to DIY or was he satisfied?

If we don't know the answers to these questions, then we have learned nothing new at all and are in no better a position than we were before this thread started.

zagfles

jem16 wrote: »

Online quotes, as you said, showed between £52 and £68pm. Yes I can replicate that using MAS with some rough guesses about how much he smokes.

How much higher than these online quotes did the OP end up with? OK we don't know exact health details, and I don't think we need to know, but it would have given us a rough idea of whether or not the Op managed to achieve a quote higher than £68pm, before and after going back to the provider.

One can assume that the reason the Op went back to the provider was because Dh posted figures which bettered his quote and he went back to try and get some more, which he did.

However did he get near Dh's figure or was he far away? Does he regret his choice to DIY or was he satisfied?

If we don't know the answers to these questions, then we have learned nothing new at all and are in no better a position than we were before this thread started.

Presumably if he wasn't satisfied with his final quote and thought he'd have done better with an IFA, he'd have used one!

I'm not sure why you're continuing to post to this thread if you think it's useless. I think it's been very informative. But is getting less so as it goes on

jem16

zagfles wrote: »

Presumably if he wasn't satisfied with his final quote and thought he'd have done better with an IFA, he'd have used one!

Then he'd be on here shouting it from the rooftops and providing figures I suspect. I also suspect that he would not have needed to go back to the provider if that's what he felt.

I'm not sure why you're continuing to post to this thread if you think it's useless.

Because I'm ever hopeful that the OP would come back and make it less useless. It's also giving an alternative viewpoint to your finding it very informative.

I think it's been very informative.

I think we got that impression and you're entitled to that opinion.

Perhaps accept that others don't agree instead of trying to shoot them down.

zagfles

jem16 wrote: »

Then he'd be on here shouting it from the rooftops and providing figures I suspect.

Why? He was here to get a good annuity, not to win an argument

I also suspect that he would not have needed to go back to the provider if that's what he felt.

He went back for a haggle as advised by dh. Which is really the thing I found most useful about this thread, that it's possible DIY to haggle.

Because I'm ever hopeful that the OP would come back and make it less useless. It's also giving an alternative viewpoint to your finding it very informative.

I think we got that impression.

Perhaps accept that others don't agree instead of trying to shoot them down.

Like you are with me you mean I'm disagreeing with you as you are disagreeing with me.

Not a lot more to be said really, is there? Unless you want the final word - feel free.

Telegraph_Sam

I think that when Debutante started this thread the idea was to get general guidance

"Are there any comparison type sites where I can try to find a company to buy the annuity from that will give me the best deal ? (or are all the annuity providers more or less the same ?)."

rather than get bogged down with specifics other than what would be of general interest.

Telegraph_Sam

dunstonh wrote: »

The platform review only affects platforms. ............... However, the consumer panel has a very strong voice and is taken notice of by the regulator and they want changes.

Are you "linked in" to the other current thread on State Pension Deferral where your name has cropped up in the correspondence? !