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.
Legal and General has today launched a new pension product, called the Portfolio Plus Pension it is designed for customers who want to spread their investment in a large number of funds.
Over 40 fund managers are responsible for around 300 different funds, with customers pension payments being spread between up to 100 of them. Both Legal and General themselves plus independent financial advisors are promoting the new Portfolio Plus Pension, giving customers plenty of choice regarding access to it.
A Legal and General spokesman said that this particular pension option would be ideal for those customers who would like the flexibility inherent in a self invested personal pension.
The Prudential has found that new pensioners are not budgeting effectively for retirement, spending more in the first year and then finding it harder to manage.
Almost thirty percent of newly retired people spent much more in their first year of retirement compared with others, averaging an extra GBP8,000 more. Of the people that did spend more the Prudential found that nearly one in five of them regretted doing it.
Interestingly less than a third of newly retired people actually set a budget for spending, which is curious since having a fixed income, usually smaller than that they have just left, would make a budget pretty much essential thought a Prudential representative.
