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Article: Show me the way to go OMO; Jon Cudby looks at the impact that the FSAs new guidelines on promoting the availability of the open market option will have on the annuity market and an apathetic public and asks if the recommendations go far enough.
- Article from:
- Money Management
- Article date:
- August 1, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 FT Business. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Anybody who is approaching retirement is able to take their pension fund away from the firm that has run the pension plan to buy the most appropriate annuity from another provider if they wish. But very few ever take advantage of this.
Estimates vary, but the most generous suggests that fewer than a third of people currently take the time to shop around to find the best deal, even though as many as 90% could be better off if they were to look elsewhere to buy their annuity.
A sizeable chunk of those that do currently exercise the open market option (OMO) is accounted for by people who hold policies with pension providers, such as banks and building ...