Pension Annuity Rates

Getting The Best Pension Annuity Rates…

Did you know that spending a little time shopping around for a pension annuity can result in up to 40% more in retirement income?

Indeed, to get the best pension annuity rates, it is recommended that you browse the market and get quotes from other providers, which is also known as using your Open Market Option or OMO.

Introduced in 1975, the Open Market Option is designed to give you a chance to review all your options rather than getting your annuity from your pension provider.

True, choosing your pension provider to also be your annuity provider may seem a logical choice, as well as the most convenient one, but if you do this, you could miss out on higher annuity rates and a higher retirement income altogether.

Taking Advantage of the Open Market Option

The best way to make the Open Market Option work for you is by getting the help of a financial adviser, someone who is an expert on financial planning and annuities in particular.

A financial adviser can provide you with accurate quotes, not just estimates. Indeed, checking annuity rates online may give you an idea of how much income to expect but these are by no means accurate, since annuity rates vary per case depending on the information provided, such as:

- age
- gender
- location
- health condition
- lifestyle practices
- previous occupation

Aside from your personal information, interest rates and other economic trends also play a major role in determining your pension annuity rates, which your annuity adviser can further explain to you and take into account.

Also, an annuity adviser can help you choose the right type of annuity. For example, he or she can help you check if you qualify for an enhanced or impaired life annuity, which offer significantly higher rates.

Medical conditions that qualify for an enhanced annuity include:

Angina
Arrhythmias
Atherosclerosis
Atrial fibrillation
Bladder disease
Cancer (early stages)
Cardiomyopathy
Chronic Asthma
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Crohn’s disease
Dementia
Diabetes
Digestive disorders
Emphysema
Endocarditis
Heart attack
Heart block
Heart valve disorders
Kidney disease (mild)
Liver disease
Lymphoma
Peripheral vascular disease
Rheumatoid arthritis
Stroke (mild)
Ulcerative colitis

Medical conditions that qualify for an impaired life annuity include:

AIDS
Malignant cancers (can be primary or secondary)
Chronic heart disease
Chronic lung disease
Motor Neurone Disease
Alzheimer’s Disease
Parkinson’s Disease
Hodgkin’s Disease
Kidney failure (severe with ongoing dialysis)
Stroke (with paralysis)
Multiple Sclerosis

Some lifestyle conditions can also be considered, such as:

Smoking (10 or more sticks per day)
Excessive consumption of alcohol
Obesity
High cholesterol levels

If you have these conditions, there is a chance that you can get higher pension annuity rates than you would get from your pension provider and you can increase that chance by seeking financial advice.

To see if you qualify for an enhanced annuity rate please fill in our free no-obligation annuity form. Indeed, by taking a few seconds to provide us with some information, we can arrange for an annuity adviser to contact you and give you free quotes and advice on how to find the best annuity rates.