More transparency for annuity rates

While annuity rates may be about to become clearer, the rates themselves are still appalling. So you must get the best annuity rate available, says Tim Bennett. Here, he explains how.

One of our biggest bugbears here at MoneyWeek now that commission payments to financial advisers are on the way out is the way the annuity market works. So it's nice to see a positive proposal from the Association of British Insurers (ABI): they want all insurers to publish annuity rates.

The annuity market is a horrible mess. You graft away all your life and, assuming you are not among those lucky enough to get one of the few remaining state or large company final salary pensions, you try to build up a pot of money, with some help from your employer.

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Tim graduated with a history degree from Cambridge University in 1989 and, after a year of travelling, joined the financial services firm Ernst and Young in 1990, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1994.

He then moved into financial markets training, designing and running a variety of courses at graduate level and beyond for a range of organisations including the Securities and Investment Institute and UBS. He joined MoneyWeek in 2007.