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There are rules in place that allow you to cash in your annuity in such circumstances, but only if your provider is willing to let you. There is no obligation for them to accommodate your wishes. If they do, any payment you receive will be subject to income tax.

From age 55 (57 from 6 April 2028 unless you have a protected pension age) you can start using the money you've saved in your pension. One option is to take the money in cash in a way that suits you. There are different ways of doing this, with their own tax implications.

You're free to shop around and buy your annuity from any provider – and you might find a better deal by doing that. You might want to consider talking to a regulated financial adviser to help you choose the most suitable annuity.

Generally speaking, an investor can only access the funds in their RA from age 55 onwards, with no upper age limit for retirement. When you retire from your retirement annuity, you have the option to withdraw one-third of the investment in cash, with the first R500 000 being tax-free.

You're entitled to take up to 25% of your pension pot as a tax-free lump sum. You have the flexibility to take this in one withdrawal, or spread it across multiple withdrawals. With each tax-free withdrawal, three times the amount taken tax-free is moved into a drawdown pot and withdrawals from there will be taxable.

You can take money from your pension as and when you need to through income drawdown. It allows you to receive the tax-free part of your pension (usually 25% of your total) as either a single lump sum or in instalments, and to take the taxable part at a later date if you wish.

If you decide to buy an income for life (an annuity), you can't generally change it or cash it in, even if your personal circumstances change.

While annuities are designed to provide income during retirement, you don't have to use your pension to buy one. You could use cash from savings, selling other investments, or even releasing equity in your home. Or you could use a combination of these alongside your pension.