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.
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.
A recent survey has shown that those aged 50 and over, the typical Saga Insurance customers, are concerned about how the credit crunch will affect their pensions and investments.
According to the survey, carried out by Millennium, over 75 percent of these Saga Insurance aged respondents believe the credit crunch will negatively impact on their investments, whilst almost 60 percent are expecting their pension provisions to be affected. However it is not all doom and gloom, since over three quarters of the over 50s are also saying they will not give up holidays and eating out.
People aged 50 and over tend to have a good view of the economy, having experienced its ups and downs over their lives. This is why the opinions of the Saga Insurance customers are valuable and worth bearing in mind no matter what age you may be.
