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Pensions, annuities & retirement planning

For help with everything to do with pensions and retirement.

2024/2025 SIPP contributions
I am filling in my self assessment form and I need to fill in my pension contributions for the 2024/2025 tax year. on ii, I can see the current year contributions but not the previous tax year. I can see my transactions and I made a contribution on 6th March 2024 (so not relevant) but the tax relief was applied on 22nd May…
The Gap Years - Car Leasing and Credit
It looks like I may be getting closer to being offered VR from my employer - which will give me hopefully enough to “bridge” the 18months till I am 55 and can access my pension. I’ve always leased cars - mostly through VW Financial Services or a leasing broker for them like Stable Vehicle Leasing. These involve finance…
Retirement Decision
I’ve been a member here for a while and have enjoyed reading the various posts about early retirement. Now, I find myself at a similar crossroads and would really appreciate some encouragement and advice from those of you who’ve made the leap. To start, I know that everyone's pension and financial situation is different,…
Best way to buy Scottish Widows annuity
I have a pension fund with Aviva and want to buy an annuity. Coming up to 75th birthday. Money Helper shows rate from Scottish Widows would be significantly more than Aviva direct rate.But how to buy? Broker Hargreaves Lansdown quotes rate much lower then MH shows. Rate from RetirementLine is better less tan MH. I don't…
SIPP access and P55 tax reclaim
I’ve stoped work (yay me), I’m being paid up to the 27th may so will have some PAYE income this year as well as having to draw some ISA and SIPP (this is for three years untill my DB kicks in then I’ll rebalance what I draw from where as required). i intend to take a series of UFPLS chunks from the SIPP, I’ve used some of…
17 year investment starting now
I commented on this elsewhere recently but cant find the post, Im keen to get the 80K I have invested (its already in a SIPP) I have 17 years until I retire and am late to investing. With a shorter time horizon and with the current instability / high valuation, Im feeling like I should wait a little to see how things pan…
Selecting retirtement age
As I near my 59th birthday, I am wondering whether I am running out of time to change the date I have set to claim my Personal pension. Is it true you cannot change the age at which you claim your personal pension once you pass your 60th birthday? I seem to remember my pension provider telling me this. When I set up the…
IFA to DIY - Thank you forumites
I have completed our move back to DIYing. It would not have been possible without the guidance from many of the regular contributors on this forum so I wanted to say THANK YOU. Some months ago I started to research investment strategies following a change of personnel within the IFA firm I was with - people pointed me in…
Pension tax relief for higher-rate earners, do I lose 5p?
Hello all, I think this is correct for a basic-rate tax payer (please correct me if I'm wrong!):* Earn £1 (gross) * Tax: 20p * Take home: 80p * ... * Pay take-home pay (80p) into SIPP * 20p in tax relief claimed automatically by the pension provider (80p * 0.25) * ... * Now my pension has 80p + 20p = £1, the original…
CS pension scheme - Classic/Alpha/VR scheme
Hi, have been thinking more on this as will be 55 and thanks for all previous replies on here. Just some other questions: * If you completely retire at 60, is it right that it’s best to take legacy Classic at 60 as you don’t gain anything from deferring it. * Is it also right that if you are ok with the actuarial reduction…
Redundancy - Less that a year of employment - Pension withdrawal
I have been told that I and the rest of my co-workers are being made redundant. I have been with the company 9 months tomorrow. They have given me two months notice and I am aware I don't get any redundancy as I've been here under two years. But my query is my pension. I have been in it since the first contribution in…
Life assurance and IHT
If a person gifted cash to an adult child less than 7 years earlier (not excess out of surplus income or £3000) and then the person opted to change their life assurance so that payment on their death would be made to their adult child rather than their wife or added into their estate, how would this impact on potential…
Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales: Access and fairness
There is an consultation regarding LGPS ongoing. You can find this at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/local-government-pension-scheme-in-england-and-wales-access-and-fairness/local-government-pension-scheme-in-england-and-wales-access-and-fairness I can see this becoming increasingly expensive!
Triple Lock on pre 2016 state pension
Hello I receive the old style state pension. Up to April 2025, I received a weekly pension of £176. From April 2025, it went up to £179, s £3 increase. When I Googled it, it said that those on the old style pension didn't qualify for the increase in the same way as the increase only applied to one part of it. So, not only…
Stakeholder Pension transfer
Hello all, thanks for reading this, I've got a stakeholder pension worth around £100k, I'd like to transfer it to a flexible pension where I won't get charged 3% foir taking the tax free drawdown and can set how much I recieve each month after. My intention is to transfer it in October 2025 and leave it there for a year.
AVC pension advice
Hello, I'm trying to add AVC to my local government pension but it's asking me whether I want to use Prudential or Standard Life and with each choice is a big list of contribution types. How can I work out which one is best for me? Do I need to pay for a financial advisor? My work have stated they can't advise me. Thank…
NEST and People's Pension - no UK option
I've looked through both NEST and The People's Pension and can't find anywhere the option for a UK tracker or UK investment option. Am i missing something, surely this should be an option? The reason for looking is that the Global funds option is obviously very heavily weighted to the US, and particularly to a small number…
Transfer ex employers DC to Personal Sipp.
Is it possible to Transfer ex employers DC to existing and only recently started rbs/aka Coutts Sipp. I've been hesitant as LFS Equities seem to be in upwards trajectory yet Diversified growth lags behind though still upwards. Meanwhile rbs Sipp seems to be decent start 9%. If it's possible how much Risk is there to…
Sect 32 annuity options advice please - RESOLVED
I will be 65 in September 2025 and have a Sect 32 pension with Aviva I want to draw on then. They've provided information recently with forms to complete and comments about options, some of which it tells me aren't available, may be available or that I should seek advice on. I spoke to an adviser from Pense who said they…
Pay extra on mortgage or into a pension
Before I start, I know nothing about pensions :# . Ask me about mortgages and I have some idea! I'm 45, currently looking to remortgage to a lower interest rate. I'm paying about £100 extra off my mortgage which leaves me tight but I'm thinking of the end goal. Term of new mortgage will be 25 years. I am self employed and…

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MSE News

Winter Fuel Payments to be reinstated for millions – Martin Lewis explains how it'll work, what it means and if it's an improvement
All State Pensioners in England and Wales will receive a Winter Fuel Payment this winter, though those who earn over £35,000 will see it clawed back through the tax system. It means nine million pensioners will get the £200 or £300 top-up. Here MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis shares his instant response and analysis, and we include answers to your key questions.
Winter Fuel Payments to be reinstated for millions – Martin Lewis explains how it'll work, what it means and if it's an improvement
All State Pensioners in England and Wales will receive a Winter Fuel Payments this winter, though those who earn over £35,000 will see it clawed back through the tax system. It means nine million pensioners will get the £200 or £300 top-up. Here MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis shares his instant response and analysis, and we include answers to your key questions.
Which NatWest and RBS branches are closing from 2025? Here's the full list – and banking alternatives
NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which are both part of the NatWest Group, will shut at least 108 of their bank branches in 2025 and beyond, after the Group announced a further 52 NatWest closures.
Winter Fuel Payments to be reinstated for millions – Martin Lewis explains how it'll work, what it means and if it's an improvement
Winter Fuel Payments will be reinstated to all pensioners in England and Wales this winter – but will be clawed back automatically from those earning over £35,000 a year, the Government has confirmed. It means nine million pensioners will get the £200 or £300 top-up. MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis shares his instant response and analysis.
Car finance mis-selling update: regulator prepares for compensation scheme – and warns against using claims firms
Payouts for mis-sold car finance could be another step closer as the financial regulator has set out the factors it will consider if it were to introduce an industry-wide redress scheme – though we won't know more about how this will work until after a key Supreme Court decision expected in July. In the meantime, the regulator has warned that you DON'T need to sign up with a claims firm to be included.
Winter Fuel Payments to be extended to pensioners earning £35,000 or less – here's what we know so far
Winter Fuel Payments will be extended to all pensioners with incomes of £35,000 or less this winter, the Government has confirmed. It means nine million pensioners will get the £200 or £300 top-up.
Winter Fuel Payments extension confirmed for this winter – watch Martin Lewis' instant response and his message to the Chancellor
Winter Fuel Payments will be extended to more pensioners this winter – though not to everyone – the Chancellor has today confirmed. However, exact details of who will now qualify still remain scant. Watch MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis give his instant response, as well as his key message for Rachel Reeves.
Nationwide Fairer Share: Free £100 bonus confirmed for 2025 – here's who will get it
If you bank with Nationwide, you could get a free £100 paid into your account in June or July as part of the building society's 'Fairer Share' scheme. The bonus will be paid to millions of its current account customers who also have savings or a mortgage with it.
Forced onto a prepay energy meter? You may be due money back as 10,000s to be compensated
If you had an energy prepayment meter forcibly installed or your smart meter was remotely switched to prepay mode without your permission, you could be entitled to compensation of up to £1,000 and may even be eligible to have your energy debts written off.

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