Drawdown Pension Products
Drawdown has become more popular in recent years partly because of the downward trend in annuity rates and partly down to the flexibility they provide. They enable you to take a pension income whilst keeping your remaining funds invested. Drawdown can allow you to defer purchasing an annuity or provide the basis of your pension income.
There are two forms of drawdown pensions and the differing factor is in the level of risk.
Guaranteed Drawdown
Guaranteed Drawdown otherwise known as a Fixed Term Annuity provides guaranteed returns and is suitable for people who have a lower appetite for risk.
Flexi-drawdown
Flexi-drawdown enables you to keep your pension invested in the financial markets and may provide higher growth but of course fund values can go down as well as up. The risk is therefore greater with this type of product as the fund value is susceptible to movement in the financial markets and you may not achieve the growth you were hoping for.