Site Index
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.
Lifetime Annuity
A lifetime annuity converts your money purchase pension plan into an income for the rest of your life, however long you might live. A good example of a lifetime annuity is a conventional annuity.
A generic term for an annuity that pays an income for life
You can have various options and types of lifetime annuity
Lifetime annuities, something of a generic term, are sold by life insurance companies (the annuity providers) and you can add different annuity options and get different annuity types (see annuity guide for details) depending on your particular needs and circumstances, all of which can be accessed by clicking on the appropriate link.
How a lifetime annuity pays out
This depends on various factors
• The amount left in your pension fund after taking any tax-free cash. You must take any tax-free cash lump sum before your 75th birthday.
• Whether your fund includes national insurance (N I) rebates because you contracted out of the additional State pension. If so, you must buy a 50% spouse’s pension with funds arising from these rebates if you are married or have a civil partner. See protected rights annuity for more details.
• Your health or lifestyle can result in you getting paid a higher than normal income if your life expectancy is likely to be shortened, from an enhanced annuity or an impaired life annuity. See example annuity quotes on the enhanced annuity rates page, or on the smoker annuity rates page if you’re a smoker.
• Your age can make a difference. The older you are the higher your annuity income. See the standard annuity rates page for examples.
• However, because people are living longer these days, annuity rates are adjusted from time to time to reflect this. So if you delay purchasing your annuity you could be taking a risk. And of course annuity rates may rise and fall for various reasons.
• Your sex can effect the starting income from the same size of pension fund. It is higher for a man than for a woman who is of the same age. This is because, on average, the life expectancy of a man is a bit less than a woman of the same age.
• The benefits you choose, for example, whether the annuity is for you alone; or for you and your spouse or partner, see joint life annuity; if the annuity income is level or escalating; or if it is guaranteed to pay out for a minimum number of years, even if you die prematurely during that time.
And let us not forget the issue of where you live and postcode annuities. These days many companies alter the annuity rates they offer depending on where you live; higher rates if you live around Glasgow, for example, and lower ones if you live around Surbiton, in Surrey. Why, because those around Glasgow aren’t expected to live so long, so the annuity payments can be higher because they are expected to be payable for a shorter period of time.
