From cradle to grave?

It will be 15 years in July since the first income drawdown products were launched in the UK following the Treasury’s reversal of the previous sacred cow of annuity compulsion. Annuity purchase had been seen as part of the pensions deal: the trade-off for the attractive tax reliefs enjoyed while accumulating pensions wealth. The change in thinking was in part a response to a large lobby from advisers who felt that annuity compulsion was simply unfair and inequitable. Since then, we have had several consultation documents and proposals that have looked at whether the current drawdown rule...