Cancer patients urged to get financial advice on their retirement

Cancer Research UK has announced a new service to help people whose lives have been affected by cancer to get the most out of their hard-earned pension funds on retirement.

The charity is concerned that cancer patients could be missing out on a significant amount of money by not shopping around for the enhanced rates which are often available to them. To help them find the best available deal for their personal circumstances, Cancer Research UK is working with Origen, the independent financial adviser that is part of the AEGON UK group, to introduce a specialist retirement service.

The choice a person makes on what to do with their pension fund determines their future income and in the case of purchasing an annuity, the decision can only be made once and cannot subsequently be changed. It is therefore very important for people at retirement to choose appropriately for their circumstances.

People using the Cancer Research UK Retirement Service will be advised on the most suitable retirement options for their individual circumstances. Should they find an improved annuity rate through the service and decide to take advantage of it, Cancer Research UK will receive 20 per cent of Origen’s commission or fees for the charity’s life-saving work.

Paul Farthing, director of high value relationships at Cancer Research UK, said: “At Cancer Research UK we want to beat cancer, and that includes improving the lives of people touched by the disease. We see the provision of this new service from Origen as an important part of this commitment.”

Kevin Ceurvorst, private client director at Origen, said: “We know that many people don’t fully understand the range of options available at retirement, so we have launched this advice service with Cancer Research UK to provide information at a key financial turning point in people’s lives.

“It’s important to remember that many annuity providers pay enhanced rates for people with specific medical conditions, including cancer. It’s vital for people to take expert advice, and we’re looking forward to working with Cancer Research UK to provide this service.”

People wishing to use the Cancer Research UK Retirement Service will be able to contact Origen online, by telephone, face to face, by letter or email. For more information, visit the Cancer Research UK Retirement Service or call 0845 094 1905.

ENDS

For further information, please contact the Cancer Research UK press office on 020 7061 8300 or the duty press officer on 07050 264 059. For AEGON UK contact on 020 7200 2502.

About Cancer Research UK

• Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK’s vision is to beat cancer.
• Cancer Research UK carries out world-class research to improve understanding of the disease and find out how to prevent, diagnose and treat different kinds of cancer.
• Cancer Research UK ensures that its findings are used to improve the lives of all cancer patients.
• Cancer Research UK helps people to understand cancer, the progress that is being made and the choices each person can make.
• Cancer Research UK works in partnership with others to achieve the greatest impact in the global fight against cancer.
• For further information about Cancer Research UK’s work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 020 7121 6699 or visit our homepage.

About Origen

Origen is one of the UK’s leading providers of independent financial advice.

Origen was the recent winner of ‘Best Retirement Planner’ at the Money Marketing Awards 2008 held in March.

Origen’s principal areas of advice are:

• Advice to small/medium sized companies including specialist planning for the owner-directors
• Communication and education to employees of large corporate clients including
• • Executive counselling services and pre-retirement seminars
  • Private client advice and solutions
  • Provision of advice to affinity groups such as newspaper readers

Origen has significant expertise in the employee benefit and private client/high net worth sectors. It has its own Self Administered proposition, one of the largest advice based Retirement Services propositions in the UK, as well as Mortgage and Healthcare services.

About AEGON UK

Origen is part of AEGON UK, which has assets under administration of £53.2 billion and employs over 4,000 staff. AEGON is part of the AEGON Group, which is one of the world’s largest listed insurers and has assets of approximately Euro 359bn (£250 billion).