Annuities

Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed retirees will be allowed to sell their annuity contracts for cash from April 2016 without facing "punitive tax charges".

Chancellor George Osborne will further relax pension rules in his Budget on Wednesday to allow the sale of annuity contracts.

Consumer champion Which? was one of just two organisations told about the pension reforms before last year's Budget, the organisation's executive director has said.

Asset managers should have to abide by similar regulation to annuity providers if they are to get involved in the retirement income market, argues the Financial Inclusion Centre.

The spectre of pension reforms

Partnership Assurance Group, the enhanced annuity specialist, has scrapped plans to issue bonds despite "significant interest" from investors.

Risk-managed funds will overtake annuities to become the preferred retirement income strategy over the next decade, according to an Aegon adviser survey.

Steve Webb's plan to extend pension freedoms to all retirees, creating a market for annuity resales, is well-meaning but unlikely to work in practice, Fidelity retirement director Alan Higham has said.

Retirees who had already purchased an annuity may be able to benefit from the pension freedoms announced at last year's Budget by selling theirs to the highest bidder.

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