AN IRISH PENSION provider is pushing its latest product hard towards the less healthy people in society.
Irish Life’s ‘Enhanced Annuity’ product is being specifically targeted at those with unhealthy lifestyles or a history of illness.
The ‘innovative’ pension plan offers ‘better value to customers who have experienced poor health’ according to a company release.
So… quitting smoking might not be such a good idea after all.
“Based on Irish policies sold to date the most common medical conditions presented include: heart conditions, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and cancer,” says the release.
The main lifestyle issues include being overweight or underweight and a history of smoking.
Pension products like this function effectively on the company taking a punt that their client will die sooner. That being the case, the money saved on subsequent payouts can be used to subsidise other customers, or be taken as profit.
Such slightly macabre financial products have made major headway in the UK in recent years, something the Irish sector is obviously keen to replicate.
“Currently up to 54% of UK retirees benefit from increased income through this kind of product,” says Irish Life CEO David Harney.
One of our key objectives is to increase the number of Irish customers benefiting from this.
Indeed, some of our clients received a 25% enhancement in income as they had a range of medical conditions.
Sounds pretty conclusive, best get smokin’, eatin’ and diabetin’ so.
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