Just like rain: How to cope with falling GAD rates

This is a summer like no other. The Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the Olympics and, of course, the unseasonal weather! This season also marks an event which, like the recent incessant rain and cloud, has cast a shadow over retirement planning - the continuing erosion of the Government Actuary Department (GAD) rates which, for August, have hit their floor of 2%. This trend began in September 2009 (see table on page 3) and signals a real concern for advisers as to the short and medium-term impact upon clients, particularly those who are in drawdown and where the provision of higher leve...