Annuity rates fall

It is bad news for "money purchase" pension schemes

BBC Radio 4's Money Box was broadcast at 1204 BST on Saturday, 31 May, 2003.

Annuity rates fall by 3%

The income or "annuity" a pension fund will buy has fallen by 3% this year.

This will come as bad news to the millions of people with personal, stakeholder, or company "money purchase" schemes.

Yet despite this, sales of annuities are rising.

We spoke to Julie Stark from the Association of British Insurers and Stuart Bayliss of Annuity Direct.

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Full story:

Annuity rates continue to decline

Scottish widows cuts projection rates

Scottish Widows has announced it is cutting its forecast for how much its investment products will grow.

All other UK life companies use growth rates which are set by the Financial Services Authority.

Scottish Widows' Robert Greenshields explained why the company decided to go it alone.

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Full story and Q&A:

Widows cuts projection rates

Q&A: Understanding projection rates

Postcode lottery

Your postcode can determine how much you pay for financial services.

We spoke to Liberal Democrat MP Vince Cable, Emma Grange of the ABI and Richard Roche, head of business development at the Royal Mail.

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Quitting stockmarket 'saved' Equitable

Equitable Life would have gone bust if it had not moved funds out of the stock market, its chairman told policyholders at its annual general meeting.

Paul Lewis was at the troubled insurer's AGM in Wembley on Wednesday, and spoke to Equitable Chairman Charles Thomson.

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Related stories:

Quitting stockmarket 'saved' Equitable

Equitable board faces the music

Equitable board wins pay deal

Teenagers' taxback

Last week we reported on how the Inland Revenue owes low-income savers up to £300m in tax.

The report prompted an affected listener to get in touch. His name is Joe and he is just a teenager.

We explained what other young people can do to avoid this happening to them.

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OTHER NEWS

Premium bond odds lengthen

On Monday, the chances of winning a tax free prize with a premium bond will lengthen, from one in 28,000, to one in 30,000.

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Presenter: Paul Lewis
Producer: Chris A'Court
Reporter: Louise Greenwood