Help with picking an annuity

greenery

I want to buy an annuity. My main question is, where is the best place to go to compare annuity rates.
I have £80K in a pension pot and I have an additional £100K so I want to find the best annuity for me.
Initially I am going to ask my pension pot provider for their products ( Standard Life) but I need to compare with other providers
I have not yet decided if I want a lifetime annuity or fixed term annuity so I would love to find an independent free comparison site that will list all my options. Is there such a thing?
Any help would be great!

dunstonh

My main question is, where is the best place to go to compare annuity rates.

A local IFA to you but with £80k you may find the costs comparable to DIY sites.   If its £180k, then an IFA can come in cheaper than DIY.

I have not yet decided if I want a lifetime annuity or fixed term annuity so I would love to find an independent free comparison site that will list all my options. Is there such a thing?

Moneyhelper will give you a guide, but the quotes on there are not necessarily what you will end up with.  They are based on assumptions and a date snapshot with no uplifts from commercial terms.

I have £80K in a pension pot and I have an additional £100K 

Will you be paying the £100k in to the pension or will it remain external to the pension (it needs a different annuity type if external).

ukdw

I use HL to keep an eye on the market and get rough quotes - but have always bought through an IFA
https://www.hl.co.uk/retirement/annuities

greenery

dunstonh said:

I have £80K in a pension pot and I have an additional £100K 

Will you be paying the £100k in to the pension or will it remain external to the pension (it needs a different annuity type if external).

Thanks. 
That was another query I had. Would it be better to pay the £100K into my pension pot. That was what I had intended to do.

I have no idea where to look for an IFA, I don't know anyone who can recommend one.- I guess a local google search?

What sort of fee would an IFA charge for this?

DRS1

greenery said:

dunstonh said:

I have £80K in a pension pot and I have an additional £100K 

Will you be paying the £100k in to the pension or will it remain external to the pension (it needs a different annuity type if external).

Thanks. 
That was another query I had. Would it be better to pay the £100K into my pension pot. That was what I had intended to do.

I have no idea where to look for an IFA, I don't know anyone who can recommend one.- I guess a local google search?

What sort of fee would an IFA charge for this?

Are you sure you CAN pay £100k into your pension pot?  There are limits.

greenery

DRS1 said:

greenery said:

dunstonh said:

I have £80K in a pension pot and I have an additional £100K 

Will you be paying the £100k in to the pension or will it remain external to the pension (it needs a different annuity type if external).

Thanks. 
That was another query I had. Would it be better to pay the £100K into my pension pot. That was what I had intended to do.

I have no idea where to look for an IFA, I don't know anyone who can recommend one.- I guess a local google search?

What sort of fee would an IFA charge for this?

Are you sure you CAN pay £100k into your pension pot?  There are limits.

No, I am really not sure. The £100K is from a house sale which I always intended to use for my pension and combining it seems the obvious thing to do but I've not looked into it yet. 

DRS1

If you keep the money outside a pension and buy an annuity with it there is a different tax treatment which recognises that a large part of the annuity is just paying you back your own money.  I have no idea if that is better than contributing to a pension (getting tax relief) and then buying an annuity which is all taxed as income.  And of course there is the 25% tax free lump sum with a pension.

The one bought outside a pension is called a purchased life annuity (and I think there are many fewer providers for them than for pension annuities.)

Aretnap

greenery said:

DRS1 said:

greenery said:

dunstonh said:

I have £80K in a pension pot and I have an additional £100K 

Will you be paying the £100k in to the pension or will it remain external to the pension (it needs a different annuity type if external).

Thanks. 
That was another query I had. Would it be better to pay the £100K into my pension pot. That was what I had intended to do.

I have no idea where to look for an IFA, I don't know anyone who can recommend one.- I guess a local google search?

What sort of fee would an IFA charge for this?

Are you sure you CAN pay £100k into your pension pot?  There are limits.

No, I am really not sure. The £100K is from a house sale which I always intended to use for my pension and combining it seems the obvious thing to do but I've not looked into it yet. 

The maximum you can pay into a pension each year and claim tax relief is equal to 80% of your income from employment for the year. 80% of your salary basically, or 80% of your profits if you are self-employed.

Income from employment also includes things like bonuses, but not things like rental income, pensions or money from house sales.

(I believe it's possible in theory to pay in more than you can claim tax relief on, but it's rarely something that you would want to do because it's the tax relief that makes a pension desirable in most cases. There are also not many pension providers who will accept contributions over the tax relief limit.)

So are you still working and how much do you earn? That will determine whether you can pay it into your pension (within any reasonable length of time at least).

dunstonh

I have no idea where to look for an IFA, I don't know anyone who can recommend one.- I guess a local google search?

Google search is one way.

Unbiased:  https://www.unbiased.co.uk/advisers?service=financial-adviser
But make sure you go to the bottom of the page and untick the box to show all advisers:



If you don't untick that box, it will only show firms that have paid to be listed and in most areas that will mean the salesforces and not your "independent" IFAs.

greenery

Aretnap said:

greenery said:

DRS1 said:

greenery said:

dunstonh said:

I have £80K in a pension pot and I have an additional £100K 

Will you be paying the £100k in to the pension or will it remain external to the pension (it needs a different annuity type if external).

Thanks. 
That was another query I had. Would it be better to pay the £100K into my pension pot. That was what I had intended to do.

I have no idea where to look for an IFA, I don't know anyone who can recommend one.- I guess a local google search?

What sort of fee would an IFA charge for this?

Are you sure you CAN pay £100k into your pension pot?  There are limits.

No, I am really not sure. The £100K is from a house sale which I always intended to use for my pension and combining it seems the obvious thing to do but I've not looked into it yet. 

The maximum you can pay into a pension each year and claim tax relief is equal to 80% of your income from employment for the year. 80% of your salary basically, or 80% of your profits if you are self-employed.

Income from employment also includes things like bonuses, but not things like rental income, pensions or money from house sales.

(I believe it's possible in theory to pay in more than you can claim tax relief on, but it's rarely something that you would want to do because it's the tax relief that makes a pension desirable in most cases. There are also not many pension providers who will accept contributions over the tax relief limit.)

So are you still working and how much do you earn? That will determine whether you can pay it into your pension (within any reasonable length of time at least).

Thanks

I am not working. I have the state pension and another DB pension. 
My plan was to use the £100K with the £80K in my pension pot to just but one annuity to simplify things, but it looks like I may have to get professional advice as to what I can do with the £100K.
The £100K is from a house sale that was a rental, so I am no longer getting the rental income

dunstonh

greenery said:

Aretnap said:

greenery said:

DRS1 said:

greenery said:

dunstonh said:

I have £80K in a pension pot and I have an additional £100K 

Will you be paying the £100k in to the pension or will it remain external to the pension (it needs a different annuity type if external).

Thanks. 
That was another query I had. Would it be better to pay the £100K into my pension pot. That was what I had intended to do.

I have no idea where to look for an IFA, I don't know anyone who can recommend one.- I guess a local google search?

What sort of fee would an IFA charge for this?

Are you sure you CAN pay £100k into your pension pot?  There are limits.

No, I am really not sure. The £100K is from a house sale which I always intended to use for my pension and combining it seems the obvious thing to do but I've not looked into it yet. 

The maximum you can pay into a pension each year and claim tax relief is equal to 80% of your income from employment for the year. 80% of your salary basically, or 80% of your profits if you are self-employed.

Income from employment also includes things like bonuses, but not things like rental income, pensions or money from house sales.

(I believe it's possible in theory to pay in more than you can claim tax relief on, but it's rarely something that you would want to do because it's the tax relief that makes a pension desirable in most cases. There are also not many pension providers who will accept contributions over the tax relief limit.)

So are you still working and how much do you earn? That will determine whether you can pay it into your pension (within any reasonable length of time at least).

Thanks

I am not working. I have the state pension and another DB pension. 
My plan was to use the £100K with the £80K in my pension pot to just but one annuity to simplify things, but it looks like I may have to get professional advice as to what I can do with the £100K.
The £100K is from a house sale that was a rental, so I am no longer getting the rental income

The most you can contribute to a pension is £3600.  So, you would need to use a purchased life annuity with the remainder.