Pensions, annuities & retirement planning

I turn 55 next year and work sucks so I am looking at my options. Assuming I have a plan for after full state pension kicks in at 67, already checked, I need to work out the best drawdown strategy for 55 to 60 then 60-67. I have a small DB pension which starts at 60 paying £4000 per year hence the 2 time periods. My first…

Hi i paid 2880 into sipp which has been increased to 3600 and i am now trying to withdraw it I have been unable to set up a Nominated Bank account on line I rang them and they said i had to decide how i want lump sum before they send me application to withdraw. crystalizes something I am so outta my depth , i have small…

Hello everyone! I recently filled all the gaps in my National Insurance record through voluntary Class 3 contributions. I applied before April 2025, received the calculation, paid the required amounts within the deadlines, and my record is now fully up to date. There is one technical point I am still curious about and…

Hello everyone, I'm trying to get some advice to help someone close to me, who is a sole trader, get a pension, but it's an area I know nothing about so as I am PAYE employed, so I would appreciate your advice. I believe that sole traders can get the same tax relief PAYE employees can, but how does that work, on a…

I'm looking for any critiques or pitfalls on a temporary IHT strategy I’m considering as I look out to the IHT changes from April 27. The Situation: The Estate: Expected to peak at around £2.5m when my wife and I hit age 60. Long-Term Plan: Draw down excess SIPP income to gift to the kids or move into ISAs, stopping…

Carried out recent improvements to home and needed to access funds from my pension pot I needed to access £15000 to make payment and as a standard rate tax payer thought I would need to withdraw a £18000 gross. However it transpired that I would need to withdraw £25000 to meet my commitments and in doing so pushed me into…

I have a Trading 212 S&S ISA and cash ISA and and have just been reading they are supposed to be introducing a SIPP in the 1st quarter of 2025. It almost seems too good to be true that there will be no management fees just a 0.15% currency conversion fee (FX fee) for stocks and ETFs. If this is true then transferring to…

One of my wife's friends got her Remedial Statement through…..she was a teacher and retired early several years ago. I really can't believe they are asking her to make a choice here (between her original FS and CARE for the remedy period) as the latter is unambiguously worse and would result in her having to repay money…

I am not too far from starting to think about retirement dates (c.5yrs) but having restless nights thinking about what might happen to my pension pot in the current geopolitical and economic context. Wars, corruption, AI bubble, chaotic governments etc. so much instability and just have a gut feeling there is something…

Hi Everyone, Firstly a little background. I am 61, expecting to retire between 63 and 65. I have 2 X pensions and will obviously receive my state pension at 67. I will pay tax until the day I die but I'm not too upset about that. My wife is 10 years younger and employed in the NHS. If she (as expected) retires (or gives up…

Just after a bit of advice (or what you might do in a similar situation?) for retirement planning. I am self-employed and currently have both a managed Stocks and Shares LISA (around 30K) and a Cash LISA (7.5K) I am using for retirement as I am already a homeowner. I opened the Cash LISA when I had more cautious approach…

Hi, I'm thinking of taking my annual UFPLS withdrawal of £16500, in March 2027, and I'm hoping to avoid the P55 Tax reclaim by taking the money after 7th March rather than after April 6th, using nearly my whole years Tax free Allowance. I wont have any other income for the year, as i can subsidise my income until March 27…

My wife reached State Pension age after 6 April 2016. She has deferred her state pension by 2 years. She can claim 12 months of the deferred pension as a one-off arrears payment. In which tax year would the tax for the one-off arrears payment fall, the year of the claim, or the year when the pension entitlements accrued?…

Hi. I wondered if anyone could advise on this. My wife worked for a short time (18 months) at a company in the 1980s. She still has a paper letter advising that she would be enrolled into their pension scheme. We’ve contacted the company who say they can’t find any record of her in the scheme - despite our paper proof. Can…

Hello, I have what I hope is a fairly simple question and I wonder if anyone might be able to help answer it. I have a LGPS and I left that job in August 2025 but I rejoined through a new employer in September 2025. I have yet to "merge" the two schemes together but can do as they are both LGPS 's. I am actually…

I applied for a CETV (Cash Equivalent Transfer Value) for my Civil Service pension on 8th December 2025. This was for the purposes of obtaining a Financial Order as part of divorce proceedings. I had previously advised Civil Service Pensions, on 12th November 2025, that I wished to start claiming my pension when I reached…

I would be interested in some independent views on my situation, particularly from those who have already retired or moved to part-time work in their late 50s. I am 56, married, and currently work full-time as a Senior Bid Manager. My wife is 53 and works part-time for the NHS. We have one son at university who should…

Greetings. I am 66 and like so many others, even though retired (since April 7th), I'm not expecting the remainder of my pension any time soon and have yet to receive any correspondence from Capita. I took partial retirement in March 2020 working 3 days 2020-2023 and reverted to two days a week 2023-2026. I am already in…

Hi. I am trying to understand how my LGPS pension works. I have made a lot of progress (from a zero start) but …..i have just received my 2026 benefit statement. I’m a deferred member. It says this: Does this mean my annual pension will actually be £21,140.79 ? And my lump sum will be £8,026.10? Also, in 2025 my annual…

I'm likely to retire soon and need an IFA to provide advice on size of lump sums etc etc. Starting on the MSE website I found some pages that pointed me to "vouchedfor". So I entered my location and did a search and a few local names came up. So far so good and I made a note of a person I liked the look of and his…