There has been much rejoicing now that retirees no longer have to receive their pensions as an annuity, but can take it as a lump sum instead. I was offered the lump-sum option by various financial advisers when I reached pension age. I dutifully agreed – and woke up the next morning with a cold stone in my stomach, knowing it was the wrong decision. So they changed it into a steady pension and now, however lunatic I may be, I’ll never actually have to beg for my life on the street.
A guaranteed steady income also gives lots of people like me a heavenly opportunity to do something else – to pursue activities there was never enough time for when we were working and breeding. It’s an opportunity to enjoy, perhaps, what Denis Healey called their hinterland – an interest that is valuable but, crucially, not work. Healey’s is a farm; for the rest of us, who don’t have a farm (although our premises may count as a pigsty), it might be art or archaeology, music or voluntary work or modelling.
Given the lump sum, you might start a business or invest it cleverly or buy a more suitable house, but it could all go wrong. You could make a mistake that would mean you had to keep working, or rely on the state, or move in with your sister. Steady pensions are great when you reach the age to stop denying you are old and start cashing in on it.
What do you think? Have your say below
