Combining funds for an annuity?

montycat_2

Hi ,
I recently wrote a ?about an annuity for my late husbands Scottish widows pension well,now I have been offered a Open Market option from Norwich Union .

Is it possible to combine the 2 sums to take out 1 annuity ?
would it be better to set up 2 different annuities?
Are Norwich Union a better option than Scottish Widows?
Is my age (40) a hindrance for geting a good deal?
Thankyou for your help in advance .

dunstonh

hmm, NU dont often come out top on the annuity front for me (when OMO is used). Did you get an IFA to do a search of have you just picked an alternative?

Is it possible to combine the 2 sums to take out 1 annuity ?
would it be better to set up 2 different annuities?

You can combine as many pensions as you like into the open market option. It may or may not be beneficial depending on the type of pensions they are coming from. Some will not be combined but still issued in chunks if they are from different pension catagories. ie. Retirement annuity contracts and personal pensions. In these cases, sometimes transferring the two into an immediate vesting personal pension can give better terms than the open market option.

Are Norwich Union a better option than Scottish Widows?

Both are good enough. Price difference being the big difference.

Is my age (40) a hindrance for geting a good deal?

You are not going to get a big percentage but it has no impact on whether the deal is any good or not. If you are doing this yourself, you will almost certainly not get the best deal available to you.

EdInvestor

dunstonh wrote:

hmm, NU dont often come out top on the annuity front for me (when OMO is used).

For younger women's annuities on the FSA's tables, NU is near the top, but not the best.

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

dunstonh

NU are often near the top. Usually in top 3-5. They just dont seem to pop into 1st place very often.

The FSA tables are no good here as age is less than 50 and contains protected rights.

montycat_2

I do have an IFA but I want to research myself .I know it sounds daft but, I find it quite therapeutic asking you all these questions and then to compare it with what I am being told .

EdInvestor

A very good policy montycat, well worth following with all pension related matters.IMHO pensions are too complex to be tackled alone (especially taking benefits) - it's easy to make a mistake and shoot yourself in the foot.

On the other hand the stories are legion of IFAs also making (deliberate) mistakes,and of the usual practices of selling you very expensive commission front-loaded products.

So the best way to deal with it is just what you're doing - inform yourself of the issues and check what the IFA says back here before committing yourself.

Very sensible

dunstonh

On the other hand the stories are legion of IFAs also making (deliberate) mistakes,and of the usual practices of selling you very expensive commission front-loaded products.

No offence Ed but you dont half post some crap sometimes.

Where are these stories of legions of IFAs making deliberate mistakes? .... there isnt any. They are all in your head and of course, you have your own agenda which is anti financial services industry individuals.

You continuously slander the majority of IFAs with the actions of a small minority (many of whom are no longer trading). Any industry is going to have bad apples. I was in hospital earlier this week with my daughter and the doctor was totally incompetent. So much so, we have put a complaint in. However, I am not going round calling all doctors incompetent.

Far more dangerous are the casual Money Mail readers who think they know it all. God knows how many mistakes I have come across in my years from those who thought they could do it themselves but made a right pigs ear of it. Some will get it perfect. Some will get the right idea but not pick the best product. Many will get it wrong.