When it comes to the time to think about retiring and beginning to plan a future after retirement one of your biggest worries will no doubt be how to make the money you have spent years saving last for as long as you will need it. This is a serious worry and it may simply be the case that your retirement pension will not be enough to get you through. With this troubling thought being more common and unfortunately more realistic, it is all the more important to know all the ways to make your money stretch as far as possible and an impaired life annuity can be helpful here.

An impaired life annuity is one of a number of different kinds of annuities that you can choose from. An annuity in general is calculated by the insurance company according to your life expectancy. The longer you are expected to live, the smaller your income will be. There are however exceptions to this. When you first look into annuities you may come across an annuity calculator, it will give you an idea of the annuity rate you can expect.

But it will ask you a number of questions to get to that answer; questions about your age, gender and general health. And this is the trick. More than a third of people are eligible for an impaired life annuity but do not even apply. If you are a smoker, if you are overweight, if you have a history of cancer or heart disease, if you are on prescription medication or have been hospitalised recently then you are in all likelihood eligible for an impaired life annuity.

Because the medical condition that you have will decrease your life expectancy, the regular income that you can expect to get will be greater. The actual income will depend on your current state of health and will need to be assessed, usually through a financial advisor independent of your annuity provider. It can be quite a lengthy process to apply for an enhanced life annuity, which is why most people shy away from it, but it could make a huge difference to your monthly income at a time when any small difference is very much needed. Do not miss out, make the effort and give yourself that little bit extra to get you through your retirement without all the financial hassles that usually come with it.