Aviva is launching its new Fixed Term Retirement Plan, a retirement income plan that doesn’t lock customers in for life.
Aviva is launching its new Fixed Term Retirement Plan, a retirement income plan that doesn’t lock customers in for life. It gives customers the option of taking tax-free cash, if they haven’t already, an income, or both from their pension fund.
It offers two investment options, each with a guarantee around the value on maturity of the plan. Depending on the investment options chosen, customers can hold the plan for a fixed term of a minimum of five and maximum of 10 years.
During this time it cannot be cashed in and when the plan matures, the customer uses their remaining pension fund to buy another retirement product, allowing them to reassess their circumstances at that point.
As the UK population ages and finances are squeezed, individuals approaching retirement are increasingly considering working past the traditional retirement age, and taking ‘part-tirement’ is becoming more popular. The Fixed Term Retirement Plan helps to meet the changing needs of many people transitioning into retirement, offering a more flexible alternative to a conventional lifetime annuity.
Clive Bolton, at retirement director at Aviva, said: “The Aviva Fixed Term Retirement Plan offers some great advantages. By investing for a fixed period of time, customers know they will have the chance to reconsider their financial needs and requirements in the future, and make a further decision on how to best use their pension fund at that point. It’s a happy medium that’s suitable for those who want some flexibility, as well as an element of certainty.
“We know through our customer research and regular Real Retirement Reports that the retirement market is changing rapidly. No two people are alike and individuals are approaching retirement with very different ideas about how they’d like to spend their life after work. We’re responding to these changes by expanding our range of retirement solutions, offering increased choice and flexibility to customers.”
Aviva offers a full range of retirement solutions, including conventional and enhanced annuities, standard and phased drawdown, the Fixed Term Retirement Plan and equity release.
-ends-
If you are a journalist and would like further information, please contact:
Jess Geoghegan: Aviva Press Office
01904 684128
jess.geoghegan@aviva.co.uk
Tom Wilson: Aviva Press Office
07800 692053
tom.wilson@aviva.co.uk
Notes to editors:
Aviva is the world’s sixth largest* insurance group. We provide more than 53 million customers with insurance, savings and investment products with total worldwide sales in 2010 of £47.1 billion**.
We are the UK’s largest insurer with 19 million customers and one in three households has a relationship with us. Our combination of life, health and general insurance is unique in its scale and breadth in the UK market. Customers can choose to buy our products through intermediaries, our corporate partners or from Aviva direct and we have become the partner of choice for many of the UK’s biggest organisations.
We are ranked as one of the UK’s top 10 most valuable brands and Aviva plc are in the top 10% of socially responsible companies globally in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. In 2010 we invested £4.3m into our communities in the UK, which included 1,500 Aviva volunteers giving 24,000 hours for good causes. In addition, our employees gave £600,000 through fundraising and donating. Read our corporate responsibility report at www.aviva.com/2010cr.
Aviva is working in partnership with Railway Children through the Aviva Street to School programme to get children living or working on UK streets back into everyday life. Find out more at www.aviva.co.uk/street-to-school.
The Aviva media centre at www.aviva.com/media includes images, company and product information and a news release archive.
For broadcast-standard video, please visit www.aviva.com/media/b-roll-library/.
Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/avivaplc
* based on gross worldwide premiums at 31 December 2009.
** at 31 December 2010.