Income drawdown: was it worth running the risk?

Clients who chose income drawdown over a traditional annuity could be facing a fall in retirement income of up to 50% due to a ‘perfect storm’ of economic and regulatory factors. This will come as a shock to many, and at least one provider has reported ‘grumblings’ about potential mis-selling from clients. However, what adviser could have foreseen the 2008 crash which prompted quantitative easing, which then pushed gilt yields and annuity rates to record low levels? Add to that changes to the Government Actuary’s Department rates used to calculate drawdown limits, plus poor investment...