Open Market option!

montycat_2

Hi .
My husband has left me a pension which has a value of £15,000-which I can draw from Scottish widows and get a monthly sum of £60 ish (sorry ,i can't remember exact figures) or I can take the Open Market Option.
My question is ,where can I get a better monthly return on this option please?
Also does anyone know if these pensions are considered part of his estate or not !
Thankyou .

NeilW

Do you know what type of pension it is? Is it an 'appropriate personal pension' or a 'personal pension' or something else like an AVC or a company pension?

What you need is a specialist annuity broker. If you do a Google there are a few that turn up. This one does a quick comparison online http://www.annuityadvisor.co.uk/starthere.html. Annuties are practically guaranteed income requiring no further thought, but can be poor value for money now that people are living longer.

If the pension has been setup properly and the paperwork filled in correctly, then the pension will be paid by the trustees of the pension fund directly to yourself. It will not form part of your late husband's estate.

dunstonh

What you need is a specialist annuity broker

Thats a strange name to call someone who deals with annuities. What you actually need is an independent financial advisor or a whole of market advisor.

but can be poor value for money now that people are living longer.

But surely if they live longer, then they are not poor value for money? Its only if you die early that they can be poor value for money. But then you will be dead so it doesnt matter.

Annuities via the open market option have a range of options which will impact on the starting amount. Also, as correctly mentioned already, the type of pension they are coming from may also impact on the options available. It may be that an open market option, in its true sense, is not appropriate but a pension transfer to an immediate vesting pension.

Online providers will probably give you a good deal but seeing as the commission is around 1% on annuities, it wont be discounted by much and you may find getting advice first is the best option. Remember, once an annuity is set up, it can never be changed. So you have to get it right first time.

montycat_2

Lol ,I tried the annuity link and it only quotes for 50 years and above .I am only 40 and have 3 young kids .
All the advise I have received is that I go for an Open Market option.
I posted in a previous thread as to what sort of pension it was.
This is the wording taken from the letter
""Open Market option of £14957.61 (£885.96Non -protected rights,£14071.65 protected rights)This fund maybe taken to another pension provider to purchase an annuity with them."

Here is a link to my previous thread.I am very confused .

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=81685

dunstonh

Because you have received the pension due to death, you should be able to take the 885.96 non protected rights totally. Only the protected rights needs to purchase an annuity.

Scot Widows never come up top on annuities unless its one of their old guaranteed annuity rate plans (pre 1995 with them and only on selected plans if that option was taken). Therefore the OMO is the best option.

All you need to do is go to an IFA, they will contact Scot Widows, clarify that the ordinary rights can be taken as a lump sum and the protected rights is to be taken on OMO and ask them to provide the paperwork to do it. The IFA will then shop round on your behalf (mostly done electronically) to find the best rate/terms. There is no one company that is best. Different ones come up each time. So until that search is done, you will not know.