Matters of life and death

ANNUITIES ARE GOOD. I realise that this is not a particularly popular concept but it is the conclusion of the HM Treasury report 'The Annuities Market' issued with the Pre-Budget Report. It's a view I've always held and I'm glad to at last have some ammunition to defend it.
The reason for issuing the report was to back up the attack on attempts to use alternatively secured pensions (ASPs) for inheritance tax planning. The new charges explained below have surely now made ASPs unattractive except for those who have a strong principled objection on religious grounds to the pooling of mortality risk.

Alternatively secured?

It is often forgotten that the Government consulted on the question of whether the requirement to annuitise at 75 should be kept and decided that it should. However the 2003 Pre-Budget Report explained that special provision was to be...