Pensions, annuities & retirement planning

Archives for November 2020

Advice for large pension pot
I am 45 years old and in a very fortunate position of having a pot worth c. £1.65M. I’m by no means frugal but believe I can live very comfortably on around £3.5k per month. Given my current pot would provide around that sum already, I’m inclined to be adventurous over the next 12 years (plan to retire at 57) and try to…
£20K PENSION POT. WANT TO CASH IN!
I am almost 57 years old. I no longer work, (not in good health) and am basically a kept woman, if you like. I signed £1250 of my personal tax-free allowance across to my husband a few years back. Other than PIP, I have no income to call my own. As a family unit, we are financially fine. We outright own our home and have…
Are We Saving Enough?
I posted on here (different user name) four years ago with the idea of retiring at 55 on £30k net for a couple but with no actual plan to get there! Following some feedback from the very knowledgeable people on this board, this idea has now turned into a fairly detailed plan. Target income is now £36k net at 55 plus…
Taking Tax Free cash from pension
How does this actually work? Is there a difference in flexi access drawdown and UFPLS in the way you can receive a tax free lump sum? If I have a pot of £500k and want to take out 60k for some exciting things on retirement(not real figures btw!), can I take out £60k and not pay any tax (allowed to take out a maximum of…
Vanguard announces drawdown service on its SIPP
Not yet had a chance to look in detail, but this is something they said they were always intending to build into their pension offering. Also noticed there's a £375 total platform fee cap which may be old news but I'd previously missed - could be a good consolidation option for all of my pots now...…
Tax relief with pension lump sum payments
Hi all, I'm hoping you can offer some insight into tax relief with a salary sacrifice pension. I currently have this set-up with my employer, in which I contribute 15% of my salary and they contribute 5%. I understand that no tax relief applies to the salary sacrifice element as the amount is deducted from my salary and…
Lump sum to LGPS pension?
I have 15k which was in a NS&I Direct Saver and am unsure what to do with it. I am 53 and have been a member of the Strathclyde Region LGPS scheme since 1993. Would it be worthwhile paying a lump sum into the pension? I'm debt free and would like to possibly retire at 62, which would I think mean I would get 15 years full…
Protected Tax Free Lump Some
I have an old Royal London Pension Plan from a previous employment that I was considering transferring out to a SIPP. On checking with RL I've discovered it has a protected Tax Free Lump Sum benefit that means I can take 33%, rather than the normal 25%, which I would lose if transferred. Any reason I can't take the TFLS…
Pension payout
Unfortunately my Auntie’s partner who she has been living with for a considerable amount of time so I would consider to be a civil partner passed away last year and she was wondering if she would be entitled to his pension as she did check with the pension company (Hanson) who in their faq’s does say that it would be…
AVC or Savings??
I am 56 and have paid into a local government pension for 30 plus years but have worked part time for the last 20 and my membership reflects that. I am also paying £300 a month into a linked standard life avc. I want to ensure I am secure when I retire ( hopefully at 60). Is it worth paying more into my avc, buy extra…
Which Non-AJ Bell SIPP Platform
I have SIPPS with both Youinvest and iWeb, which is not optimal as both use the AJ Bell trading platform. I am thinking of moving a (5 figure, mainly funds) SIPP from iWeb to somewhere else, for platform diversification. (and also better online account tools). However, I am unclear who also uses the AJ Bell platform.…
Pension recycling
My husband has a very old zurich ex allied Dunbar pension which is currently worth £27000. It is his only pension. He is 63. It is inflexible and the only way he can use it is by taking his 25 per cent tax free and then an annuity. Clearly the annuity is going to pay peanuts. As he is not working at present the plan is to…
Expected Cost of DB Transfer
First time post, but have followed forum posts for a couple of years. My post is covering things which have been mentioned many times before so apologies for this. I have a frozen DB Pension which I have asked for a CETV value for the last four years, mainly to weigh up options. These have changed each year 21, 22, 26 and…
Long term pension portfolio
Hi all, I've just turned 30 and now starting to take my pension/investments seriously for the journey towards retirement - which I am hoping will be around the age of 60. My current pot is £25K and is invested 100% in the HSBC FTSE all-world index tracker fund and likely to stay 100% equities until around 55 when I plan on…
Pension Transfers to Royal London
Hi,I've been trying to transfer one of my frozen pension (with Aviva) into my larger Royal London (also frozen) pension pot. However, they seem to be making this incredibly difficult by refusing to do anything without an IFA being involved. Last year I transferred another frozen pension from Black Rock into my current…
What did the smart pension money do when values dropped in March/April?
Partly a theoretical question, and also genuinely interested... When it was a given that markets everywhere were going to plunge due to Covid in March/April of this year, what were people doing with their SIPP's and pension pots? Allowing them to ride it out, or transfer it somewhere a little 'safer', if there was…
Winding up Defined Contribution Pension Scheme
I am trying to wind up a DC Directors Pension Scheme where no benefits have yet been taken. 2 members in Scheme ( both are Trustees and former Directors in Company) Our Company was dissolved in 2019. Contributions are paid up. Pensions are held with a large insurer and I have been told that our pensions will need to be…
Early Retirement?
Apologies if this is a stupid question, but I can't find an answer.I will be 55 next year and am looking at my options. Regardless of whether I can afford it or not, can I ask my employer for Early Retirement at 55? Or is it like redundancy where you have to be offered it?I suppose my question is - on my 55th birthday is…
picking pension companies
I am with St. James's place and NEED to transfer to a different company. I have been looking at: Tyndall Investments, Smith and Williamson, Fidelity, A J Bell and Fisher Investments. I appreciate A J Bell is more of a self-managed pension company and so different from the others. Does anyone have any experience of any of…
Transfer ISA to a SIPP?
I currently have a HL ISA with shares the the value of £7,000HL advertise perks for transfering a pension to a SIPP, can I transfer my ISA to HL or another company?Would there be more fees involved, if I had both an ISA ans a SIPP? I am 59 and I dont have a definate plan of when to retire. I would like to keep working, to…

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