In the last edition we mentioned that from 6 April 2011 the current requirement to purchase an annuity by the age of 75 will stop, and that in the meantime the age will increase to 77.

We now have some more information to enable decisions to be made, although there are still some unanswered questions. What we now know as likely to be the structure is summarised below:

• Your personal choice to buy an annuity, or leave the pension fund invested and take a capped drawdown as income or a flexible drawdown as income.
• Flexible drawdown will allow you to take as much as you like net of income tax, but with the requirement to secure a minimum income from part of your fund.
• If by the time of your death you have not bought an annuity, the current tax charge on the fund passing to your beneficiaries is potentially at 82%. This will reduce to 55%.