Excuse the play on words. But it’s true, an annuity is not just for Christmas. Choosing the right annuity and the right options is a very significant financial decision; it affects the rest of your life!

Taking the wrong decision could cost you many of thousands of pounds in lost retirement income. Taking the right decision, which might mean not buying a pension annuity, could be really rewarding.

Perhaps you are better off with an income drawdown plan, or phased reirement. Maybe you don’t fully understand all your alternatives. Treat yourself after Christmas…seek out specialist advice and find yourself the best possible retirement income.

If you have opted for, are are considering, income drawdown rather than a pension annuity, a leading insurer, Scottish Life, is offering some help. It has recently launched an annual review of Income Release (it’s income drawdown plan name) options to help independent financial advisers (IFA’s) advise their clients nearing retirement.

These new reviews will allow advisers to consider client’s Income Release options each year and ensure they fulfil their Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) obligations.

Advisers will be issued with annual review documents some six weeks before review date, allowing them to identify any changes that need to be made to the clients investments and income levels. These will be sent automatically, but IFAs will also be able to request ad hoc reviews as and when needed.

Scottish Life state that the FSA requires IFAs to regularly review their clients existing plans, yet their  adviser research identified that most insurers do not have a robust process that provides an IFA with all the appropriate information they require to review and advise the income drawdown clients they have. With them providing IFAs with all the information they need to conduct regular reviews, they are making the task easier for them and also helping the IFA to meet their TCF obligations.

Now that we have expanded both the information and range of services available via this website we need to know if it is right for you.

Is it better that we offer you more than just the chance to buy a pension annuity? Do you want to receive full advice? Might you be of a mind that face to face advice is right for this important time in your life? Is the website easy to use, or too complicated?

Whatever your views, let us know. Send an e-mail to enquiries@rightannuity.co.uk . Maybe we are missing something. If so, what?

We want to ensure that you, the customer, has in front of them what they need, and what you see with this improved website is just the start.

As an alternative to a straightforward “pension fund to annuity” path investors could be better off riding out the current volatility in the world’s stockmarkets by putting their shares into a self invested personal pension (or sipp).

Selling shares into a sipp and making an in specie contribution means that as the shares recover in value, there would be no capital gains tax (CGT) to pay on the increase in values. This is because the investor will have paid the tax at the time they sold the shares to the Sipp.

Investors are currently holding shares that have gone down in value. By making an in specie contribution and utilising a sipp the CGT liability can be lower and there is no tax to pay on the increase in value of the shares because it is in the pension.

This move does of course depend on the client’s needs, including how long they have held the shares, the level of tax they pay (basic or higher rate) and how much availability there is in their CGT annual allowance.

Now that we have greatly expanded the amount of available information on this annuity website you can see that there are, indeed, various retirement options available to you. Maybe a pension annuity, even with the best annuity rates, isn’t right for you.

Perhaps you don’t want to realise the losses in your pension fund. Maybe you would prefer to give your fund the chance to recover some of its’ losses before you commit to buying an annuity.

It could be that income drawdown or phased drawdown is a better option. Take a good look round this website, then, when you are ready, let Origen, our strategic partner, guide you to a happier retirement.