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…

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…

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

I'm a bit stuck (actually very stuck) I left Royal Mail earlier this year to work for the council, I was mainly in a defined Contributions scheme from when I started in 2013 to 2018 which is where the bulk of the money is in, it then changed to a cash balance scheme from 2018 to 2024 and then a collective plan from 2024 up…

I'm trying to sort this out for my step mom and I'm completely brain fried. So my step mom lives in the UK but she is a US citizen. She has a US passport and her husbands pension from United Steelworkers used to be paid via direct deposit into her Chase bank account. When she moved here permanently she closed her Chase…

Three months in advance of my pension maturity date (70th birthday) i put in an application to Reassure for my 3 separate S226 old Guardian pensions with "a very valuable guarantee" apparently called GMP to discover after 7 months the staff dealing with me are not trained in S226 or GAR's & GMP pensions. As a result i was…

hi , my partner took advice to top up her national insurance holes to get a full state pension, which she now enjoys. However she only had the holes in her record due to the recently discovered errors . We contacted HMRC who replied as she has full pension she wasn’t entitled to anything. Is there a way she can claim back…

Hi all, My wife is 62 and planned on retiring at 65 (state pension 67). She just realised that her private pension was payable at 60. We now understand that the monies she should have been receiving for the past 2 years are essentially being saved up to give her at the point she decides to start receiving this pension. We…

A smorgasbord question for those who planned retirement and have retired. How well has your actual expenditure matched your modelling? Did you use your expenditure just prior to retirement to estimate your retirement expenses? I understand most research indicates that people spend a bit less, but similar than…

I am seeking advice. I recently, well 2 months ago have begun semi-retirement. However I m still struggle to spend more money after being really frugal post a divorce. I am 60 and realais I have mostly enough as long as I don’t go too overboard. However I still don’t treat myself to small things - coffees, lunches out and…

Announced in the budget speech I am delivering the new Pension Tax Allowance - so that pensioners with income up to the value of the full new state pension will not pay income tax in this Parliament. In the budget document 6.182 Income Tax: Pension Tax Allowance – The government will introduce the Pension Tax Allowance…

Hi, we are 55 and 56 currently and planning to retire at 60. We are looking at needing £36000 a year and had been looking at using UFPLS. Our plan was to take approximately £16000 each from DC pensions using UFPLS, the first 25% of that is tax free and the rest falls within your taxable allowance, then top up from savings.…

I want to engage a fee-only planner for some advice. I have a plan already but I want someone to look at it. Any advice on how to go about getting good advice?

Totally don't understand why I have to pay so much tax on a tiny annual pension? Can someone explain how it all works when we get our pension rise in April 2027?? For 2027/28: The figures are confirmed: New full State Pension from April 2027: £13,036.40 per year. Personal private pension: £265.39 per year. Combined annual…

I turn 55 in February when I can access my SIPP. I am possibly looking at taking £16000 per year from tax year 2026/27. My question is, assuming I have enough headroom to put in £16000 gross to my SIPP at the end of this tax year, can I put it in and leave it as cash and drawdown that for year 2026/27 or do I have to…

For those who want a regular income from their pension and know how much p.a (using £16k pa as easy example) am i right in thinking have two best options UFPLS once a year for £16k - Vanguard sell £16k from the pension, on one specific date , then £4k would hit our bank tax free and the remaining £12k would get taxed -…

I intend to open a private pension for my granddaughter for her 18th. Is there an advantage to waiting until she is 18 or if I open it is it easily transferrable? She will be going to university so this initial lump sum is just to start her off and make it simple to add to when she has an income. Can you recommend any…

After the post in the link below, I thought I would start a thread of pension myths and misunderstandings. Feel free to add yours here, or I suppose, argue why then aren’t myths, after all - this is the internet. Annuities are poor value. They used to be but as rates are rising they have become better value again. I…

A new Pension Tax Allowance will be introduced from April 2027 to stop low-income pensioners having to pay small amounts of Income Tax, the Chancellor John Healey has announced. Read the full story: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2026/10/budget-state-pension-tax-free-allowance-rise/

I have been struggling to find any advice on this - the situation is: I am a76 years old divorced woman and have a full state pension. I was made redundant in 2020 and took retirement. I had put an Equity release option in place in 2018, so started drawing down on this once my redundancy money ran out , to cover my bills…

I have a tiny private pension that pays out £215 a year. This puts me over the threshold limit of the state pension for paying tax. Fair enough ! But it is taxed at 50% ! I thought the standard tax rate was 20%. Now I've recieved a tax demand for £85. What the…. ? Any advice on why I am being taxed at 50% and how to…