Ever since the UK Chancellor, George Osborne, announced tax reforms that will mean “no-one is forced to buy an annuity” in his March Budget, many commentators have been pointing to the Australian market as an example of how this pension freedom can work.

Osborne's reforms will abolish current tax rules that strongly encourage consumers to buy annuities - contracts from an insurance company that provide a guaranteed income for life - when they retire. Legal & General, one of the biggest providers of individual annuities, has said it thinks the reforms could cut the number sold by half.