The best UK annuity rates paying not a lot plus the State pension is unfortunately what many people in retirement have to rely on. Actually, 1 in 5 of retirees rely on State pension, not having sufficient annuity income. The findings from Aviva’s recent research are backed-up by those from another leading life company, Prudential. Almost a fifth of people retiring in 2010 will have no employer or personal pension or savings to live off on top of their State pension. The basic State pension pays £95.25 per week, and for a married couple it is £152.30. That compares poorly with average spending by a retiree aged 65 to 75 of around £321 per week.
As so many people expect to retire on the basic state pension alone, particularly when only half know how much it actually pays, there is still a clear need for people to understand the financial consequences of not making adequate provision for their time in retirement, comments Martyn Bogira, of Prudential. The Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) agrees that an increasing number of retirees will find themselves without the financial means to have the standard of living that they want. Younger people who can still do something to increase their pension savings should consider the problems afflicting those people about to retire. UK annuity rates alone, be they high or low, aren’t really going to matter a jot if there just isn’t a pension fund in place.
