Annuities

The cost of guarantees on variable annuity products should be kept at 1% or less of the fund value per annum for consumers to be willing to pay for them, according to three-quarters of attendees at a recent Watson Wyatt debate.

Pensioners with fixed rate annuities risk losing around a fifth of their purchasing power over the next five years due to rising inflation, according to Aon Consulting.

Around 85% of single life level annuity customers receive a rate that is at least 95% of the highest rate available, according to new research from the ABI.

Aegon Scottish Equitable has increased the guaranteed rate period from 14 to 21 days on all its annuity quotes.

The financial services industry is full of complex jargon and this is no different in the annuity market. Here's the Retirement Planner guide to the different terms advisers will encounter when advising on annuities

Helen Morrissey talks to Matt Trott takes about innovations in the annuity market

Kim Lerche-Thomsen talks about how he believes the at-retirement market will develop

Annuities are often criticised for being inflexible and poor value for money. Helen Morrissey looks at developments in the market that demonstrate annuities have more to offer

Just Retirement has announced group total sales were £184.7m in Q1 to March 31 2008, up 12.1% on the same period last year.

While annuitisation used to be a one off event today's retirees have a lot more flexibility in how they take their retirement income. Bernard Footitt looks at the options