that the government should freeze the state pension to help cut its growing budget deficit, and freezes — or cuts — could soon become the norm.
How much you stand to get from personal pension savings could be a shock, too. Annuity rates have dropped almost 10% since last summer, pushed down by the government’s attempts to reflate the economy. It has pumped ￡175 billion into the financial system by buying up gilts. This has pushed gilt prices up and yields down by as much as 50 to 100 basis points, and it is these that determine annuity rates.
Moreover, the sort of income you can expect from your pension pot is also determined by life expectancy. Clearly, the longer you’re expected to live, the lower the annuity rate. Three decades ago, in 1980, benchmark annuity rates for a 65-year-old man were almost 16%. Today, they’re less than half that at 7% — knocking ￡9,000 a year off what you’d get for a ￡100,000 pot.
What if in another 30 years they’re just 3%? That would knock off another ￡4,000, giving you a pitiful ￡3,000 a year for every ￡100,000 of pension savings.
Never mind the twins. I’d better get on with cracking the code for predicting the numbers of those Lotto balls.
Questions:
Why does the author introduce the topic of the likelihood of 150?
What does the expression “the glide path”(in para5) mean?
Why does the author use the Lottery number?
Please give a summary of the personal pension saving in the United Kingdom.
