Your right to shop around!
You only get ONE chance to get it right.
Many people retiring in the UK over the next few months will have received information about their pension fund from their provider/s, including details for buying annuities.
The annuity offered, however, may not be competitive, so exercising your right to use your ‘open market option’ could add over 100% more pension income each year for the rest of your life*.
The open market option is basically a way to ensure you get the very best deal for your future pension. It means that you are free to buy a conventional annuity (also known as a Compulsory Purchase Annuity) from any provider in the market.
Whilst one financial institution will have set up and managed your pension when you were paying into it, you don’t have to leave it there with them.
Buying the right pension income is very important as once bought, annuities cannot be switched to another annuity provider, cannot be changed to a different type of annuity and cannot be altered in any way.