Falling down: What's behind the drop in annuity sales?

Procrastination is the thief of time, or so the saying goes. But it appears deferring making a decision on retirement income is becoming a far more common occurrence. In total, 353,000 annuities worth just under £12bn were sold in 2013, and the number of contracts sold on the open market was up. However, according to statistics from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), there was as a 16% fall in overall annuity sales year on year. So, what's behind the plunge? The ABI said its members – the providers themselves – reported many more clients were deferring making their retirement ...