A guide to annuity essentials for paraplanners

If you don’t feel all that confident about annuities, you’re not alone. Once the default choice of guaranteed income in retirement for generations of UK pension savers, for a whole bunch of reasons, annuities had been falling out of favour for year and years. Why annuities matter again Higher interest rates and inflation have led to a revival of interest in securing certainty of income in retirement. The trouble is that an emerging generation of paraplanners – and a sizeable chunk of the more established paraplanning population – had barely any recent experience of annuities. So we invited Andy Powell from Standard Life to join us to explain: How annuities work What drives annuity rates The practical differences between pension annuities and purchased life annuities Why different providers offer different rates for similar circumstances Tailoring annuities to client needs During this Assembly, Andy explores the different ways annuities can be designed to meet sifferent requirements. For instance: Rising payments: increasing the amount clients receive each year in retirement Safety nets: making sure payments continue for at least 5 or 10 years, even if you die Family protection: keeping payments going for your partner or someone else after you die Money-back features Andy also covers newer developments like fixed-term annuities and platform-based solutions that let clients combine secure income with investment flexibility without splitting pension assets across different providers. For paraplanners, perhaps one of the most valuable takeaways is understanding enhanced terms where, in contrast to other insurance products, health conditions actually increase and not decrease income. This practical session will give you paraplanners useful knowledge to help clients weigh up their retirement income options. So why not watch now? Useful links Grab your CPD certificate for watching or listening to this Assembly by visiting the link below. Plus there were some great links shared in the chat during the Assembly. This included the ‘Retirement Health and Lifestyle form’, which helps you prepare for the questions clients may be asked when purchasing an annuity (via Sarah Compton-Hall); and annuity rates chart, and IHT guaranteed annuity calculator (via Rob Collins). CPD: Request your certificate Retirement health and lifestyle form Annuity rates chart Inheritance tax guaranteed annuity calculator Listen to the podcast episode Watch the Replay at Crowdcast (includes Chat)