I almost made the mistake of a lifetime, my friend Sheena told me.
Several days ago, I received a call from my pension provider. He told me that as of the present, my pension plan has matured enough for me to be able to avail of an annuity. He gave me information about it and gave me an offer of annuity.
Being rather unfamiliar about pension annuities and such, I proceeded to agree to the offer, not knowing any better. Then another call came and I put the pension provider on hold.
The person who called was a friend who happened to be a professional annuity adviser. As the conversation with my friend ended, I suddenly remembered his profession and so I asked him some advice regarding this. The first thing he told me was: “Turn down whatever offer the pension provider gives. You’ll regret it for rest of your retirement life.â€
He proceeded to give a succinct explanation of why I should turn it down and that I should first shop around for other annuities before making an annuity purchase. When I got back to the pension provider, I followed my friend’s advice and did not accept the offer. Following this event, I asked for more professional advice and learned more about the mechanics of pension annuities.
Coincidence? Definitely. But it saved my retirement life forever.
