An annuity table sets out how much annual income a given pot buys at a range of ages, usually on one fixed set of assumptions. Read with those assumptions in mind it is a genuinely useful shape of the market. Read as a price list it will mislead, because every row is quietly conditional on things the table does not repeat.
What every table has already assumed
Almost all published tables assume a single life, a level income that never rises, no guarantee period, and a person in standard health. Change any one of those and the row no longer applies to you. A joint life basis, escalation, a guarantee or an enhanced health case each move the figure, sometimes by a wide margin, and the table will typically not show that. Before comparing your own quotation with a table, check which of these four the table assumed, because otherwise you are comparing two different products.
Why the table is out of date almost immediately
Annuity pricing follows long dated bond yields, which move continuously. A table is a snapshot of one week, and a few months later the whole grid may sit noticeably higher or lower without any change in the underlying method. That is why a table is much better at showing relationships, such as how the income rises with age, than at telling you what your pot will buy. The relationships are stable and the levels are not.
What tables are genuinely good for
Three things. They show the age effect clearly, which is the most useful single insight for anyone deciding when to buy. They show the cost of the shape choices where a table includes level and escalating columns side by side, which makes the inflation trade visible in a way prose does not. And they give a sense of the spread between providers, so you know whether the difference between two quotations is normal or unusual. Used for the shape of the market rather than for a price, they answer real questions.
Where a binding figure comes from
Only a quotation, on your age, your chosen shape, your health disclosure and a stated date. It will expire. This site publishes no annuity tables and no rates, because a figure we could not verify on the day would be worse than none, and it recommends no insurer. Where you want real quotations across the market, the enquiry goes to a firm authorised to advise and arrange.
Questions people ask about annuity tables UK
What do annuity tables usually assume?
Typically a single life, a level income with no increases, no guarantee period and standard health. Any of those differing from your own case makes the row inapplicable, which is why a personal quotation often looks nothing like the table.
Why does my quotation differ from the table?
Because the table assumed a shape and a health position, and because pricing moves with bond yields between the table being published and your quotation being produced. Both effects can be substantial and neither is an error.
Are annuity tables useful at all?
Yes, for relationships rather than levels. They show clearly how income rises with age and what escalation costs at outset, and those patterns hold even when the absolute figures have moved on.
Does this site publish an annuity table?
No. Live rates come from insurers and change constantly, so publishing a grid we cannot verify on the day would mislead. This page explains how to read a table produced elsewhere and where a binding figure actually comes from.