§ Miss KirkbrideTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to allow personal pension fund holders to purchase fixed-term annuities as an alternative to life annuities. [102188]
§ Mr. RookerThere are no plans to allow personal pension fund holders to purchase fixed term annuities as an alternative to life annuities. An essential feature of a pension is that it provides a guaranteed income for the rest of the pensioner's life. A fixed term annuity would not achieve this and would run the risk of leaving pensioners without any source of income in their later years.