{"id":19685,"date":"2019-10-17T11:25:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T11:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smh.group\/?p=19685"},"modified":"2023-02-15T13:39:19","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T13:39:19","slug":"annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/","title":{"rendered":"Annuity rates hit 25-year record low"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Annuity rates\nhit their lowest level since 1994 in September, with implications for those making\nretirement decisions. <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the introduction of\npensions flexibility in 2015, annuities have become much less popular as a way\nof converting a pension fund into income. The most recent figures from the\nFinancial Conduct Authority show that over five times as much money is placed\nin income drawdown now as goes towards annuity purchase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now annuity rates have\nbeen back in the news, with several press reports citing calculations from the\nMoneyfacts comparison website that rates had hit their lowest level in 25\nyears. According to the data, a 65-year-old purchasing an ordinary pension\nannuity, with no increases in payment and no minimum payment period, could\nexpect to receive just 4.1% \u2013 \u00a3410 a year per \u00a310,000 of investment. That was a\nsignificant drop from the start of 2019, when an extra \u00a358 a year was on offer.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the short term, the\ncause of the annuity rate decline has been the drop in long-term interest rates\nsince January. For example, the yield on a 15-year UK government bond fell from\n1.56% at the start of the year to 0.86% by mid-September. This fall in\nlong-term rates has been a global phenomenon, resulting in negative interest\nrates spreading to many international bond markets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The longer term fall in\nannuity rates also reflects declining interest rates, which have been on a\nmulti-decade downward path. In addition, increased life expectancy has put\ndownward pressure on annuity rates, although this effect has receded latterly as\nrecent statistics have suggested life expectancy improvements are flatlining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The preference for\ndrawdown, however, comes with investment and mortality risks \u2013 investment\nreturns may be below expectations and\/or you may outlive your pension pot. If\nnothing else, the annuity rate can provide a benchmark against which to\nconsider the rate of income withdrawals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are approaching retirement<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, make sure you take advice before dismissing annuities completely, especially if you are risk averse or will have few other sources of retirement income. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are some way from retirement, remember that 4.1% figure when you think about how much you want to contribute to your pension. After all, at 4.1% a \u00a325,000 pension annuity \u2013 with no inflation protection or spouse\u2019s benefits \u2013 will cost about \u00a3610,000\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you would like to discuss your retirement planning<\/a><\/span><\/strong> with one of our Chartered Financial Planners<\/a><\/span><\/strong> please contact us on 0114 266 4432<\/strong> or info@smhca.co.uk<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The value of your\ninvestment can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount\nyou invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future\nperformance.  The value of tax reliefs\ndepends on your individual circumstances. <\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Annuity rates hit their lowest level since 1994 in September, with implications for those making retirement decisions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[383,77,239,385,24,384,247],"class_list":["post-19685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financial-services","tag-annuity","tag-financial-planning","tag-interest-rates","tag-pension-annuity","tag-pensions","tag-pensions-flexibility","tag-retirement-planning"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAnnuity rates hit 25-year record low - SMH Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Annuity rates hit 25-year record low - SMH Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Annuity rates hit their lowest level since 1994 in September, with implications for those making retirement decisions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SMH Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-17T11:25:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-15T13:39:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yearly-Accounts-FI.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"585\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brendan Hall\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brendan Hall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brendan Hall\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e\"},\"headline\":\"Annuity rates hit 25-year record low\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-17T11:25:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-15T13:39:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/\"},\"wordCount\":443,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yearly-Accounts-FI.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"annuity\",\"financial planning\",\"interest rates\",\"pension annuity\",\"Pensions\",\"pensions flexibility\",\"retirement planning\"],\"articleSection\":[\"SMH Financial Services\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/\",\"name\":\"Annuity rates hit 25-year record low - SMH Group\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yearly-Accounts-FI.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-17T11:25:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-15T13:39:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yearly-Accounts-FI.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yearly-Accounts-FI.jpg\",\"width\":585,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"year end accounts\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Annuity rates hit 25-year record low\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/\",\"name\":\"SMH Group\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e\",\"name\":\"Brendan Hall\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3e3bb96786e02b14d97d1c006fde60e4080a2841fd919bafa62c4cc1c65688?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3e3bb96786e02b14d97d1c006fde60e4080a2841fd919bafa62c4cc1c65688?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brendan Hall\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/author\/brendan-hall\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Annuity rates hit 25-year record low - SMH Group","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Annuity rates hit 25-year record low - SMH Group","og_description":"Annuity rates hit their lowest level since 1994 in September, with implications for those making retirement decisions.","og_url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/","og_site_name":"SMH Group","article_published_time":"2019-10-17T11:25:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-15T13:39:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":585,"height":250,"url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yearly-Accounts-FI.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brendan Hall","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brendan Hall","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/"},"author":{"name":"Brendan Hall","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e"},"headline":"Annuity rates hit 25-year record low","datePublished":"2019-10-17T11:25:32+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-15T13:39:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/"},"wordCount":443,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yearly-Accounts-FI.jpg","keywords":["annuity","financial planning","interest rates","pension annuity","Pensions","pensions flexibility","retirement planning"],"articleSection":["SMH Financial Services"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/","url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/","name":"Annuity rates hit 25-year record low - SMH Group","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yearly-Accounts-FI.jpg","datePublished":"2019-10-17T11:25:32+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-15T13:39:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yearly-Accounts-FI.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yearly-Accounts-FI.jpg","width":585,"height":250,"caption":"year end accounts"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/annuity-rates-hit-25-year-record-low\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Annuity rates hit 25-year record low"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#website","url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/","name":"SMH Group","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/637129b7464f960037f1b676f625570e","name":"Brendan Hall","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3e3bb96786e02b14d97d1c006fde60e4080a2841fd919bafa62c4cc1c65688?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe3e3bb96786e02b14d97d1c006fde60e4080a2841fd919bafa62c4cc1c65688?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brendan Hall"},"url":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/author\/brendan-hall\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24159,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19685\/revisions\/24159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devstagesite.co.uk\/smhgroup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}