It’s important to choose your annuity carefully and get it right the first time. If you were making an important purchase such as a new house or car, it’s more than likely you’d have a good look around the market to find what best suits your needs and offers the best deal.  

But few people think to shop around for an annuity even though this is probably one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll make, as once you’ve bought the annuity you can’t cash it in in the future.

The questions you need to ask yourself include:

• Do I want a regular income?
• Do I want access to my money as and when?
• Do I want a guaranteed level of income?
• Do I want to provide income for my dependants? 
• Do I want my income to increase each year?
• Do I want to secure an income for life now, or delay until the rates may be better?
• Do I want to reinvest my pension fund or secure the money I’ve saved?

Once you know the answers to these questions then you can start to narrow down the options available to you.