Retirement

New research by Metlife has revealed that around 38pc of IFAs plan to advise clients to use guarantees in their pension planning this year, driven by an increasing interest in alternatives to conventional annuities.

Dear Mr Sants, I am writing to you on behalf of the huge number of IFAonline.co.uk readers who believe the FSA's response to the issue of dual-pricing has been insufficient and are calling for urgent further action.

IFAonline.co.uk has been inundated with comments on mortgage dual-pricing over the last few months. In response to requests from our readers, we are launching a campaign on the issue with a view to making the FSA listen properly to advisers' and brokers'...

Scottish Widows could be hit with a compensation claim which could cost it up to £1bn, following accusations it gave negligent advice to around a hundred final salary pension schemes.

Annuity rates have rebounded to beat the highs seen in December last year after faltering slightly during Q1 2008, according to Investment Life & Pensions Moneyfacts.

The cost of guarantees on variable annuity products should be kept at 1% or less of the fund value per annum for consumers to be willing to pay for them, according to three-quarters of attendees at a recent Watson Wyatt debate.

Pensioners with fixed rate annuities risk losing around a fifth of their purchasing power over the next five years due to rising inflation, according to Aon Consulting.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS), a key source of pensions data, says it drastically underestimated private pension income because of a computer error.

The Financial Services Skills Council (FSSC) has launched a new national standard for financial advisers who work with older clients.

Pension Insurance Corporation has launched a new insurance product to protect defined benefit pension funds and their sponsors against the cost of pensioners living longer than expected.