They are no longer ‘forced’ down a particular route towards an annuity and can take as little or as much of their pension pot as they wish to, whenever they wish, paying only marginal rate taxes.

However, with more choice there is potentially greater risk of getting it wrong, so it is important that people understand the pros and cons of the various options for how they want to spend their pension pots.

People will need to think about how long they expect to live and whether they wish to leave any of their pension pot to their loved ones, on top of other considerations such as whether they want a guaranteed retirement income, investment growth, control or flexibility.

Some clients may even want a little bit of all of these. They may also want to change their mind at different stages of their retirement or consolidate some or all of their pension pots.

Now, more than ever, consumers may need as much support in retirement, as when they are saving for it.

This guide will explore the retirement income options your clients face in April 2015; what products could be created in the future and the pros and cons of the wide variety of vehicles purporting themselves to be a great source of sustenance for pensioners.

Contributors of content to this guide are: David Macmillan, managing director of Aegon; John Lawson, head of policy (retirement solutions) at Aviva; Paul Evans, pensions technical manager of Suffolk Life; Martin Tilley, director of technical services at Dentons Pensions Management; Claire Trott, head of technical support at Talbot and Muir; Paul Todd, assistant director of investment at Nest; and David Trenner, technical director of Intelligent Pensions.