What with the Bank of England's Quantitative Easing Programme (don't worry, you don't need to know the details of this is to see its negative effects on annuities) and the proposed EU rules regarding gender discrimination when related to annuity rates, it's no wonder that many of the UK's large insurers have dropped their average annuity rates by between 3% and 5% over the last month alone.
December of this year will see the introduction of a new EU rule that says insurers can no longer use gender as a criterion when determining the annuity rate offered to a retiree. At present gender is one of the biggest factors when calculating annuity rates, but take this out of the equation and thousands of males could see their potential retirement income plummet by up to 20% while females see theirs rise a little.
Obviously there is nothing you can do about the Bank of England or the new EU rules but there are ways to ensure you get the most from your pension pot.
December of this year will see the introduction of a new EU rule that says insurers can no longer use gender as a criterion when determining the annuity rate offered to a retiree. At present gender is one of the biggest factors when calculating annuity rates, but take this out of the equation and thousands of males could see their potential retirement income plummet by up to 20% while females see theirs rise a little.
Obviously there is nothing you can do about the Bank of England or the new EU rules but there are ways to ensure you get the most from your pension pot.