Nigel Chambers: When transferring out of a DB scheme can be a good idea

Pension schemes that provide an income based on final salary have long been held out as the gold standard of retirement provision and indeed, if the person lives a very long time - beyond their life expectancy - they will provide a very high total return. Defined benefit (DB) schemes are, however, also inflexible - simply allowing a person to take an initial tax-free lump sum and then providing a fixed income each year, increasing in line with inflation. Should the scheme fall into default - recent high-profile examples being BHS, British Steel and turkey firm Bernard Matthews - the safe...