New provider Just Retirement is launching enhanced annuities and equity release schemes by playing off a perceived gap in the market for persuading consumers to shop around for better retirement income.
UK inflation continues to pick up steam with latest figures from the Office for National Statistics suggesting CPI is running at an annualised rate of 1.6%, and RPI running at 3%.
The Bank of England has left the base rate unchanged at 4.5% today following a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee.
The Bank of England has increased the base rate by 0.25% to 4.5%.
The volatility and uncertainty surrounding future oil prices may cause the Monetary Policy Committee to stay its hand in raising interest rates for a second month in a row, says BDO Stoy Hayward.
Interest rates are more than likely to rise next week after the Bank of England published new figures showing Britons retain an undiminished appetite for borrowing.
Forecast lower consumer spending risks creating a hole in the UK economy that cannot be filled by increased corporate investment spending, warns Andrew Clare, Legal & General financial economist.
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee was close to voting for a full 0.5% increase in the base rate earlier this month minutes just published from the last meeting show.
Investors switching out of equities at the prospect of rising interest rates could force annuity rates to fall, warns the Annuity Bureau, as rising demand for gilts pushes down the yields on which annuity rates are based.
Economists still expect interest rates to rise by next month even after the minutes of the last Monetary Policy Committee meeting show just one of the nine votes went in favour of a rise.