EU annuity rules leave men worse off in retirement

Saga's director general said plans to impose ‘unisex' annuity pricing and the ‘draconian' Solvency II funding requirements would be disastrous. Moves to ban insurers using sex to determine policy prices would, she said, mean much lower pensions for all males purchasing annuities. Commentators have predicted that if rates are equalised men could see their annuity rates slashed by between 5% and 10%. She also said Solvency II would push pensions further into deficit as insurers would be forced to hold more low-yielding gilts. Altmann said: "By trying to foist a set of rules on our...