Pensions, annuities & retirement planning

anyone registered for this The MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard can help you see your pensions (including your State Pension) together in one place. https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pensions-dashboard/research-panel Just registered it found all my pensions apart from one,some of the values were a bit…

The NUMBER is how much income you need to "live comfortably" So What's your number? Very important for pensions planning, to know what you are aiming for. My Number? (for a couple) I calculated: £22,000 based on Food £5,000 Car/transport £5,000 Bills/Utilities £4,500 Holidays/Leisure £4,500 Clothing/Cash/Xmas/Other £2,000…

This is a bit of a light topic where the idea is to highlight what successes you had with your pension pots. Example - I contributed X and accumulated Y by Z year. Total appreciation was 'x' percent. Just trying to learn the following that could inspire a range of people - those with no pension, those who started late etc.…

Hello to all. As a fairly new forum user I would appreciate someone posting a key to the acronyms and arcane terms used when discussing pension issues. Thank you in advance.

Welcome to the new Pensions, Annuities and Retirement Planning sticky! 👋 📖 Here are some Forum threads you may find useful (if there are any you think have been missed, please do let us know): * Can I cash in my pension? * Early-retirement wannabe * It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!! 📝 And here's some…

I sometimes feel like posting little updates of what I’ve done, what I’ve been thinking about, what I’ve been reading up on - but doesn’t feel like its worth a thread. But maybe it woudl be good to have a general thread for musings and little steps you’ve taken this week (and next week etc)? Just a thought

Hi everyone, My question is what sort of things are people thinking about or doing to mitigate future IHT charges? Some background…. I am new here and have had a good look through the forum chats, and in particular relating to pensions and government proposals to include pensions for the purposes of Inheritance Tax (IHT).…

Hi members I have just retired and am waiting for Capita to finalise my pension. I did not receive a Civil Service Pension Statement for 2024 but the 2025 statement provided after I agreed my pension options states Classic grew £485k and Alpha £200k for the year which would give me a tax liability of about £240k. Since…

I have 3 pensions 1 with Aegon with £10k (ex employer pension) in 1 with Prudential with £10k in (personal pension) , Another with Nest £33k and adding around £950 to this each month via my salary (total employers an employees contribution). Im 53 and am starting to think about what I should do about a lump sum before Im…

Looking for advice. After a review my IFA transferred part of my pension into a Retirement Investment Account with AJ Bell. After a couple of years I wasn’t getting any value for the annual percentage fee so they agreed to remove it. However, they left their name on the account. AJ Bell says if you choose not to have an…

I am in the position of my MOD pension payments being stopped and I have to provide ID before it is paid again, the only ID that they accept that is applicable to me is a passport which mine is out of date so it will cost me £100 to get my own pension paid to me. I have been trying to solve this for a long time and even my…

So, Capita have taken over the admin for the CSPS and their new website and members portal went live this week. I have just registered on the new portal and am not in the least bit surprised to find that the information available on the new portal is very scant and incorrect in terms of my length of service. With…

After living in the UAE for around 13 years, I've returned to the UK and am reviewing my existing financial arrangements. I have an Alltrust SIPP. My existing adviser is at Harrison Brook. I've been approached about changing my servicing adviser to another adviser who is also associated with Harrison Brook, but whose…

Hi all, I'm 46 years old and, if all goes to plan, would ideally like to retire around age 65. My wife is six years younger than me, which is also a consideration in our longer-term planning. Over the years I've accumulated five different pension pots through a combination of job changes and company mergers. Since the age…

Dear diary and all, I am starting this diary as a record of my first year in retirement. OH and I both officially retire at the end of August, at the moment we are on annual leave until then. There is quite a lot of advice about the financial planning aspects approaching retirement, but I have found less about the reality…

I have recieved a letter from St James's Place saying that as of 30 September 2026 the above trust has been suspended. I cannot sell my investment. They will contact me sometime in November to give more information. Basically it looks as if I am going to lose my private pension! Is this the case and is there anything I can…

hi following excellent advice on here regarding an old DB pension, im now ready to leave that alone and start regular investments into an existing SIPP for the next 5 years when i retire (im 60 now, planning to retire at 65). i have a Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP, its around 7 years old and has grown from £80,000 initially to…

Driving myself batty going over the recycling rules, and something suddenly struck me - as I'm on sal sac do all the contributions not count on a personal level as strictly speaking they are all employer contributions??? Would make avoiding the recycling rules far easier 🤣🤣 Also, was it Apr 29 the sal sac restrictions…

64 years old Thinking of stopping work in the new year. My state pension kicks in within 3 years so I could draw on my savings/pension £20k a year for those years then reduce my drawings to about £12k a year and receive about£12 k state pension. Should I draw from my pension pot for three years as the taxable part of the…

Hi, After doing some research on how much i can contribute this financial year into a SIPP and have received varying amounts, Different AI's and search engines are giving me different answers!! For context, my annual (contractual) gross salary for 26/27 will be £16129, Tax code 1088LX my pension contributions (LGPS) are…

hello, just asking as have had different discussions lately to get me questioning… My wife's NI years are 5 years short atm. with all scare stories of a means tested state pension, is it worth topping up the black hole? any advice or theories gladly appreciated. All she has is a 10k per year nurse pension and she is 58 and…

Following earnings data published today we know that subject to a possible minor adjustment in October (see below) the triple lock state pension increase for April 2027 is likely to be based on the average earnings increase figure of 3.9%. This would mean the headline new state pension figure would increase from the…

I am due to start receiving 2 DB pensions in January totalling approximately £240 after 20% tax is deducted. Am I allowed to increase my workplace DC payments from 16.5% to 25% from January (although I am thinking from my December pay-packet)? This would mean I have cumulatively the same net income whilst boosting my…

I turned 60 in August and still am yet to receive a new calculation due to GMP. Is this normal? How long would anyone think is a reasonable time to wait?

hi guys i had an email from SYP saying this Good Afternoon I am writing with regards your recent Annual Deferred Benefit Statement We have identified that your statement does not include all of your pension membership, which means the benefits shown on your statement are incorrect. We are working to correct this and, once…