Many people don’t realise it, but you can take your pension pot away from the company that built it up to get a better deal elsewhere. Just accepting their offer can be an expensive mistake. With our help, you can get up to 75% higher income than the income paid by a conventional annuity through your pension company.

Retirement Line is the UK's largest broker specialising in annuities alone. We have many years' experience of successfully arranging thousands of annuities. It's all we do. As annuity specialists, we provide quotes from every leading provider, for conventional, enhanced, investment linked and fixed term annuities. We have access to preferential annuity rates, which means you could secure a higher retirement income. We also make arranging your annuity simple and straightforward by taking care of all the paperwork for you. Every aspect of our service, from providing quotes to arranging your retirement income, is provided without charge as we receive commission from your chosen annuity provider. Investment linked annuities have additional charges payable, if you opt for this type of annuity, these charges will be explained to you.

There are four main types of annuity:

Conventional Annuity. This is the standard type of annuity. A conventional annuity pays you a guaranteed income for the rest of your life, regardless of what happens to interest rates or investment markets in the future. The amount of your income reflects the current market conditions when you take out your annuity. A conventional annuity assumes you have no particular health or lifestyle conditions.

Enhanced Annuity. An enhanced annuity also provides you with a guaranteed income for the rest of your life. The difference is that an enhanced annuity provides you with an income up to 75% higher than a conventional annuity. This is because an enhanced annuity reflects your medical history and lifestyle. Because many pension income providers assume you will not live as long as someone with a clean bill of health, you are paid a higher income.

It is estimated around 60% of people qualify for an enhanced annuity and there are around 1,500 different conditions which are relevant. These range from moderate health and lifestyle conditions such as high cholesterol, smoking, excess weight and alcohol consumption to conditions such as cancer and heart disease. Even certain occupations qualify.

Fixed Term Annuity. Instead of paying you a guaranteed income for the rest of your life, a fixed term annuity pays you a guaranteed income only for a fixed period of time. This is helpful if you want to keep your options open, or not commit to something you cannot change later.

A fixed term annuity works by paying you an income for a set period – typically five or ten years. At the end of this period, it then pays you a reduced lump sum of money. You can then use this to invest in another retirement income product, such as a conventional or enhanced annuity.

Investment Linked Annuity. An investment linked annuity will also pay you an a guaranteed income for the rest of your life. The difference is that an investment linked annuity also offers your income the potential to grow by linking your annuity capital to an underlying investment fund.

Retirment Line only offer a with profits option, being invested in a wide range of different assets, the income produced will vary from year to year, and can go down as well as up. That said, every investment linked annuity provider Retirement Line works with guarantees that your income will never fall below a certain level.