Aegon launches online service

Aegon has launched Your Retirement Planner, an online tool to help advisers guide clients through the options available to them following Aprils UK pension reforms.

Aegon launches online service

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The UK arm of the multi-national life insurance company said the site will provide an interactive income planning tool which responds to information people provide on their savings.

Under the reforms, announced by chancellor George Osborne in last March’s budget, someone reaching the age of 55 will be able to take their entire pension pot at once, if they wish, with 25% tax free and the rest taxed at the retiree’s marginal rate (subject to the person’s lifetime allowance).

Aegon’s service will illustrate how a pension pot could be converted to a variety of solution including an income drawdown, a guaranteed product, annuity or a cash lump sum.

It will help advisers work with their clients to agree what their income priorities are and discuss how they could access their savings through Aegon’s platform.

The service will also explains the potential implications of different drawdown options.

Managing director for retail, Duncan Jarrett, said: “The days when an annuity was the obvious option for those at retirement have gone.

“There’s a massive opportunity for advisers as 65% of people don’t understand the pension reforms and even those who do are likely to require support selecting the right combination of income products.

Earlier this week, a survey by YouGov on behalf of investment platform Old Mutual Wealth revealed that three in four people approaching retirement have not taken professional advice.

It also found that only 17% said they understand pension income drawdown, which is set to become a more mainstream source of retirement income when the new pension freedoms come into effect.

In the UK, Aegon offers retirement, workplace savings and protection solutions to around two million customers and employs approximately 2,100 staff.

Its revenue generating investments totalled £59 billion as at 30 September 2014.

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