I SHALL shortly be retiring at 65 and using my private pension plan to purchase an annuity. I understand some annuities can be passed on to my wife if I die first. Is this correct? If so, which firm offers best value?
D.L.K., St Helens
CONSULT a local financial adviser, as the answer really depends on the exact age of your wife, and on whether you want a level annuity which will be unchanged for life, or an annuity which starts lower but rises over the years, or one which can be passed on but which would suffer some reduction when you or your wife die.
As an example though, if you and your wife are both 65, then Norwich Union (0800 068 3611) looks good right now. For every £10,000 in your pension plan, it would pay £621 a year, all of which would pass to whichever of you lives longest.
I AM in my late 50s and have not worked for the past two years because I was disabled in an accident. At the time, I had an occupational pension plan and I would like to keep this up, but I have been told I cannot pay anything more into it, even though I could afford this from my accident compensation.
YOU can only pay into an occupational pension scheme if you are working for the company that runs it. However, the government-backed stakeholder pension scheme is open to everyone, even if they are not working, and lots of building societies, bank and insurance companies offer these. The maximum contribution is £3,600 a year, but tax reliefs mean the actual cost is far less.
MY mother in law died last year and left a life assurance policy which she took out years ago with Colonial Mutual. However, nobody in her family can now find the company. Can you say where we can send the claim?
R.W., Maghull
Colonial Mutual was swallowed up into the far larger Winterthur Life. Its address for your claim is Winterthur Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6SZ.
