Linking up with the best annuity

These days anyone coming up to retirement with a money purchase pension fund is faced with a bewilde...

These days anyone coming up to retirement with a money purchase pension fund is faced with a bewildering array of choices. There are conventional annuities of many kinds - with and without spouse's pensions, with and without escalation, in advance and in arrears, and so on. Then there are investment-linked annuities which have become increasingly popular as the cost of conventional annuities has increased, and which now have many options of their own. Finally, there is the possibility of phasing retirement or using an income drawdown arrangement, possibly using a self-invested option. C...