What’s better, a LIRA or an enhanced pension?

Someone retiring from a long career with a public-sector pension faces a fork in the road: use a pot of extra money to boost a guaranteed lifetime pension, or move it into a locked-in account he controls and might one day pass to his kids. This piece is about that trade-off between certainty and flexibility. Allan's view is that you can't choose well in the abstract, so the first job is to pin down the actual numbers and ask whether the enhanced pension would more than cover everyday spending. A pension brings predictable income and no market worry but typically stops at death, while keeping the money invested offers control and an estate but hands you the market's ups and downs. He also floats a middle path worth considering, pairing the larger pension with life insurance to look after heirs. It's most relevant to anyone weighing a commuted value against a defined benefit.