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Pensions, annuities & retirement planning

Archives for August 2015

UK Pension and moving abroad
Hi there I've been living in the UK for 2 years and thinking of start saving for retirement as I'm 29. I'm really interested by the UK pension plan with the 20% tax relief (free money!) scheme. However, I'm pretty sure I'll be moving abroad in 2-3 years to a different country and a few others after that. Can I: - keep…
Can I withdraw my state pension? I'm 61 years old.
Asking on behalf of my 61 year old uncle. Today he was telling me he received a letter in the post telling him he couldn't start using his pension until he's 67. I asked him, when did you get the letter? He said, oh it was a while back. I told him, from April 2015 at the age of 55 you can withdraw 25% of your pension tax…
NHS Pension
I wanted to ask a couple of questions on behalf of my wife regarding NHS Pension. Not sure if anyone on the forum has one? How would we work out how much her pension would be and what sort of salary she can expect when she retires? Also - with the NHS pension is it possible to reduce the amount she pays every month? She is…
State pension
My apologies if I am asking a stupid question, when I contacted the pensions office ( state pesion ) they informed me that my wife of 26 years could claim up to 60% of my pension based on my contributions, is this in addition to what I receive or is it taken from my money? Say my pension is 145 pw, does this mean she can…
Transferring Work Pensions
Hello, I'm a 35yr old who has some pension pots from previous employment, but in the last year or two have been made redundant twice, meaning that those schemes (with L&G and BlackRock) are asking me what I want to do with the money accrued there. Because neither scheme was operational over a year or more, I don't have the…
How much can I get tax free?
Apologies if I am being a numpty, but I have just received my deferred benefit statement for my ancient and tiny Local Gov pension scheme. I can start drawing it from next year, and as the amounts are so small as to be hardly noticed I am seriously considering doing that, although I intend to keep working. It's this…
Retirement - state pension deferral
My friend will be 65 in November. He probably wont retire at that point. His state pension looks to be at approximately £150. He could defer it and get a bit more when he starts to take it or he could take whatever he was due to in a lump sum at some point in the future. When he stops work this £150 state pension will be…
Reap - Real Estate Annuity Plan
Has anyone invested with this scheme? It can be found as myreap It has been written up in The Guardian and Independent and its website is well presented. However, I would like more information before committing funds to it! Thanks for any information.
Railway pension and Brass 2
Trying to understand my rps statement, it quotes a yearly pension and lump sum, and underneath it shows the value of my Brass 2 fund, are these separate schemes, ie the yearly pension quoted is guaranteed (final salary?) and the Brass 2 is DC scheme in addition to the yearly pension, any help would be appreciated.
Tax allowance + State pension
I have a relative who is retiring in January 2016 and is wondering whether she should cash her DC pension in now or wait until after April next year (new tax year). She's not interested in an annuity and wishes to withdraw the full amount but has concerns about the tax implications. The pension is worth 22k and she will…
FA charges
My pension company Arriva (Aon Hewitt) are unable to do flexible drawdown alongside my tax free lump sum. I have contacted a financial adviser who is will get the 25% and also set up flexible drawdown with Royal London. I am concerned about the charges. He is charging £4200 immediate and then £315 in year one and £206 in…
What does "ers pens" mean on a payslip
Hi, I am writing a letter back to the tax office regarding my pension paid in the 2011-2012 tax year. Looking at my last pay check of that year(28/3/2012) under accumulations I see "ers pens" and I am thinking this is the total of the net contributions I made that year. Would that be correct? Sorry if this is obvious but…
new to proper jobs and pensions...
Hi All, I'm starting my first 'proper' job in a few weeks. i've been working freelance for the last 20 years and am now taking a part-time real job with a 'salary sacrifice' pension scheme. It's starting to seem like a good idea to go with it, although all my freelance instincts are saying don't do it, put the money in a…
NHS pension..any benefit in deferring
Hi, spouse looking to take early retirement (1995 scheme, normal finishing age would be 60, but probably go at 58)...am I correct in assuming that as it is based on average of last 3 years that there is no financial benefit in deferring it for 2 years? thanks for any replies
Simplification challenge
My father-in-law has recently asked if I would help him to simplify his estate and given me access to his investment details. I should say that he is recently widowed, 83 and just bubbling over into higher rate tax with his pension and investment income. He hasnt really focused on the situation with his finances, as has…
AVCs (salary sacrifice) "treated as an employee contribution"
What does this mean? Whenever I've made salary sacrifice contributions before (with previous employer) it's been knocked off my gross pay and treated as an employer's contribution - so I don't get taxed on it and it doesn't show up on my P60. What are the differences if it's treated as an employee's contribution? Does that…
NHS pension
Hi I will be leaving my nhs post 6 months before reaching 60. I will be freezing my pension until my 60th birthday. I know my pension is based on an average salary over the last 3 years of service Will this 3 year calculation include the 6 months up until 60 that I wont have worked or will it be based on the 3 years up…
Miss sold pension.
I'm pursuing a miss sold pension claim through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. I transferred out of a preserved Army pension in 1993 to another pension plan. A question on the claim form enquires about financial loss. So I wrote to the Ministry of Defence to get an idea of what the pension would of been worth…
Delay in payment
Hi hoping somebody can advise me....my husband has a pension with Abbey Life he retired on July 27th 2015 so filled in all the required forms to claim his pension, he has two and requested 25% tax free and an annuity on one, and on the smaller one requested full 100%payment, we received a letter confirming his request and…
My State Pension Statement - confused!
I left employment early and decided to take my company pensions. I'm now nearly 63 years old. Like many, I decided to request a State Pension Statement and I received this yesterday. I understand that during my employment life, a large portion of it was contracted out of the state scheme and therefore I would not expect to…

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