The Prudential is warning people that the current state pension cannot be relied upon to provide a decent standard of living.
A spokesman from the Prudential said that everyone should be putting more money aside for retirement from a much earlier age. Without this financial provision there are going to be many people finding life very hard as they reach retirement, something that no-one wants to see.
According to Prudential figures well over a third of people actually lose sleep thinking about the financial pressures they will face in retirement. This situation can be resolved through forward planning and saving over a longer period of time. As long as the pension provision can be afforded by the individual and day to day living can still be enjoyed then early pension planning can transform the future.
A free guide to annuities is being offered by Saga, helping people understand the options open to them at retirement and how to make the best of what is on offer.
The Saga guide is very up to date, with full details of how the OMO (Open Market Option) works for buying an annuity. It explains how it enables people to shop around to find the best annuity to suit them, rather than being tied to their pension fund provider. At the moment only around forty percent of people are actively using the Open Market Option, but it is hoped that this information will prompt more to see how it can be of benefit to them.
The advice from Saga is that anyone approaching retirement should have a look at the guide so they can weigh up their options. It can potentially save lots of money and ensure the package selected best meets customer needs.
Starting from Monday 11 August the Prudential is going to decide annuity rates based on where people live, using their postcode as a guide.
A persons postcode can suggest expected life expectancy and typical health backgrounds of people, leading to the Prudential being able to offer rates that will better match the risk with the amount offered. Those in areas of lower life expectancy and poorer health will be likely to receive bigger pension payments from their annuity since they will be expected not to live as long as someone in a better area.
A Prudential spokesman said that the postcode is an excellent way of determining risk and pension payment since everyone has one. He went on to say that the postcode would make a difference of only 5 percent when comparing highest pension payments to lowest, with other factors also being taken into account to determine the most suitable amount.
