There are 3 questions a good adviser would ask you at retirement

If you reach retirement with a pension fund, there are a number of options you need to consider.

Having gone through the standard options with you, a bad adviser would not have asked you about your health.

A poorly skilled adviser would have asked you “how’s your health”?

The reason why this is a bad question is that the typical answer is “I’m fine!”. This can mean anything from “I really am fine and I’m healthier than my 18 year old couch potato of a grandson” to “I’ve had triple heart bypass surgery which is all behind me now and no one knows, but I secretly smoke 40 ciggies a day in the garden shed - life couldn’t be better!”

A good adviser would have asked you these 3 questions:

• Do you smoke or have you smoked?
• Are you taking prescription medication?
• Have you ever received hospital treatment for a medical condition?

40% of those buying an annuity could answer yes to one or all of these questions yet only 10% do.  (Source: estimate from Just Retirement, an annuity provider).

By answering yes, this has led to a near trebling of prospective pension income for this particular person.

Healthy lives get standard annuity rates, those who declare a medical history get better, “impaired” rates.

Make sure you disclose all your ailments!

Make sure your adviser asks the 3 questions!