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How to Find Out Your Annuity Fund

We are living for longer today than ever before. At the same time, the cost of living is ever rising. Changing social and economic factors mean that planning your finances during retirement has become more important than ever before. After all, retirement is known as the golden period, when one should be able to enjoy the fruits of life’s labour. It is therefore vital to plan carefully and optimise your financial assets to provide for you when you stop working. Things like annuity value prove to be immensely significant during retirement, as an annuity is one of the most important, and often the only source of income for pensioners.

An annuity provides a regular and steady income in exchange for a lump sum. People usually invest their pension savings into an annuity scheme, which then pays out an income either for as long as you live, or for a pre-agreed period of time. How much income an annuity can offer you, or annuity value, depends on the size of your Annuity Fund, which is the amount invested in the annuity, as well as various other factors.

The most important factors that determines annuity value is the type of annuity you choose to invest in and the current annuity rates. Other factors include age, gender, and location. Depending on your health and lifestyle, you could also be eligible for an enhanced annuity, which has a higher annuity value based on the shorter than average life expectancy of the applicant.

Often an annuity is the only source of income during retirement, and so choosing the right annuity with sufficient annuity value is extremely important. Once you buy an annuity it cannot be changed or cancelled – so it is important to make the correct decision the first time around. An annuity offers a chance to make the most of your life savings, but choosing an annuity that underperforms or does not suit your needs could mean losing your life savings to an ineffective investment.

It is imperative to shop around and use the open market option to find the most suitable annuity with a sufficient annuity value. You can consult an independent financial advisor with expertise in the retirement sector to understand the implications of investing in different types of annuities and choosing the best option. You can also use online tools like annuity calculators etc. to find out the best annuity value you could get in exchange for your annuity fund.

Calculate your Annuity Quote Online!

Despite having the open market option, even today, many people continue to opt for the first annuity offer that is made to them by their pension provider. Market research shows that just by exploring the market and shopping around, you could be getting up to 46% more income from your annuity. So how do you find out how much you could get from an annuity scheme? Thanks to the leaps and bounds made in technology today, you can find out information about different types of annuity, as well as get instant annuity quotes right from the comfort of your home.

There are many websites that offer free and objective advice about different kinds of retirement investment products, including different types of annuities. You can read about how they work and understand how different annuities would work for you. You can also explore information provided by different annuities companies on their websites about their products and how they work.

Using all this information, you can decide what kind of annuity might work best for you. Of course, you will need actual Annuity Quotes to make the final decision, and until just a few years ago, this would have meant having to visit each company or at least make phone calls to different annuity providers for their quotes. Today, of course, you need to do no such thing. You can get annuity quotes instantly from different annuity providers simply by entering the required information in the online form.

Using the information you provide, usually about your gender, location, age, amount of investment, and other information like health and lifestyle data, the annuity company can calculate how much they could afford to pay you. If you want to find out the maximum income you could get from an annuity, you can use online annuity calculators, which are quick, easy and convenient.

Most companies as well as independent websites offer annuity quotes for free. Online pension calculators and other tools are also usually free, as is the information and other resources available on the websites. If you need help understanding a product or assistance with how to make the choice, an independent financial advisor could give you objective and impartial advice. IFAs generally charge a fee which can be either an upfront one off payment, or a commission based fee which is paid after you have made a decision. So, making the right choice of annuity has never been easier and more convenient.