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Annuity RatesWhether you’re fit and healthy, suffering from poor health, overweight or a smoker, we’ll find you a higher annuity income for your retirement.
Annuity OptionsYou can add various options to your annuity to tie in with your personal circumstances. Click here for details of the options that might apply to you.
Annuity TypesIt’s important that you select the right type of annuity for your requirements. Click here for details of the various annuities available.
Joint Life Annuity
A joint life annuity applies if you have a spouse or partner
A joint life annuity provides an ongoing income stream for your spouse or partner should you die prematurely. It is not usually appropriate for single people, but most couples choose to have an annuity that benefits their surviving spouse or partner.
This option means that, should you die prematurely, an annuity income is paid to your surviving partner for the rest of his or her life. This type of annuity arrangement is also known as a ‘partner’s pension’, and can be added to most annuity types; see annuity guide for details.
Any person of either sex might be eligible for a partners pension, although some insurance companies (the annuity providers) will insist that you can show that individual’s financial dependency on you if they are not your wife or husband.
Your spouse or partners annuity income
You can usually choose how much of your annuity income is to be paid to your partner when you die. This can be as high as 100%. Most couples, however, opt for an income between 1/3rd and 2/3rds of the annuitant’s income. The more you choose to be paid to your partner on your death, the lower your own income will be.
Financial dependency may need to be verified if, and when, the dependant’s annuity income comes into payment. The partner’s pension is also called a spouses pension, or a reversionary pension, because the annuity income reverts to your partner.
The age of your partner will affect your annuity income from a joint life annuity arrangement. The younger he or she is, the lower the income to you will be, because, should you die, the annuity payments to your younger spouse will be payable for a longer period of time, i.e. until he or she dies.
