Annuities

The big news in UK pensions this week was the Budget. If you've managed to avoid hearing about it, or were just waiting for PP's edited highlights, here's what you might have missed.

The government has admitted it is possible no secondary market for annuities will develop if buyers were unable to price the risk of such purchases correctly.

Chancellor George Osborne has launched a consultation on extending pensions freedoms to pensioners who have already bought annuities.

The FCA banned the sale of traded life policy investments to mass market retail investors - claiming they are ‘toxic' products that pose significant risks to investors. A market in second hand annuities will pose similar risks.

What will the be the major developments for pensions?

There is a risk that pensioner poverty will increase after the implementation of freedom and choice from next month, according to a leading think tank.

Plans to allow pensioners to sell their annuities for cash must be considered carefully to prevent rip-offs and poor deals, industry participants have warned.

Chancellor George Osborne will further relax pension rules in his Budget on Wednesday to allow the sale of annuity contracts.

Pensioners who cash in annuities after two or three years could lose half their pot in fees

Michael Johnson has proposed that retirees are defaulted into drawdown after research by PP found little support for his original call for a default option of index-linked annuities.