I'm curious if folk still opt for an annuity versus a drawdown, which seems to be a better method for a) ensuring maximum investment returns (assuming no catastrophic banking crashes), b) allowing money to be pulled as required and potentially better management of tax arrangements and c) ensuring all pension investments are accessible via beneficiary and retained within the estate after death.
It's not a straight forward decision.
Annuity will tend to pay a higher rate than a drawdown as the risk is averaged. You have to assume you live for 30-40 years and limit the drawdown while the insurance company can plan an average of 25 years across a big pool.
You also have some certainty, if stocks drop 30% one year and take a while to recover, a real possibility over 30+ years you could burn the pot a lot faster.
Returns are averaged which is fine when saving but a risk when you need to draw and pay the bills.
Back calculating a 4% drawdown fails over a high percentage of history wheras currently you can get 4.2% with 3% annual increase and 50% partner at 60 or 4.9% same terms at 65.
I'm not there for a while yet, but would consider a split if in good health. Convert part to an annuity, sufficient for the basics then leave the rest to grow and call off as needed.