Pensions, annuities & retirement planning

I am self employed and opened a stocks and shares 'Fully Managed' Lifetime ISA 5 years ago (risk level top/10), as a pension fund with JP Morgan (previously Nutmeg). It seems to be doing well, but so do other options. I have 17 years left before I can access it. I am wondering if anyone has any experience of using this,…

So I increased my personal contribution from 3% to 12 or 15%. Company pays in 3%. Is this a good idea. Think might be stopping me saving cash which I may need if I get injured. Anyhow this equivalent pension type to my friend who works for council and council pay in 15% ? What I mean is, is it an accumulated pot type…

Hello, After 27 years with BT I have just left and will be taking my BTPS shortly. As part of the paperwork to take the BTPS it states that at the age of 67 (state retirement age) my BTPS will reduce by £1,349 pa due to something called the State Pension Offset. I certainly dont remember agreeing to this? Is there anything…

I have little confidence in the accuracy and reliability of the information displayed on the workplace pension website. Please offer any advice what to do. In my workplace pension 5k was added to my pension account - this was clearly a mistake. I notified my pension provider. No answer from them. For 2 weeks the higher…

I am interested to understand the gift from surplus income rules and wanted to ask if regular withdrawals - lets say 10k a month, for a couple of years - are regarded as income? If you can then gift most of this without it affecti9ng your lifestyle, does that qualify as gifts from surplus income?

Hi everyone I am trying to retire from a former workplace pension scheme but am having serious issues with the pensions administrator. I made a complaint a couple of months ago and in the absence of a response after eight weeks and escalation involving the Ombudsman and the Pensions Regulator, I have only received a…

Have 2 kids 13 & 16, considering opening SIPP and/or ISA for each. Will be low values in to start say £50p/m ea or £25 p/m ea if open both a SIPP and ISA, perhaps increase a bit after a year or so. Objective is just to get the savings / SIPP started and kids can take over once working etc. Mrs not so keen on SIPP as thinks…

* I am approaching 75 years of age. I am a Spanish resident and Spanish taxpayer and I have not lived in the UK for over 30 years. * I have some old pension plans from the 1980s, now managed by AVIVA, worth about £50,000 total. * Because I am still working, I wanted to withdraw 25% of the funds now, and leave the balance…

I retired earlier this tax year having had £11k of salary from which pension and usual deductions were taken. I was in a DB scheme with contributions via salary sacrifice, but without making additional AVCs. I now have my pension input amount (PIA) as supplied by the provider for 26-27. It is based on 19 times the DB…

I transferred a DB pension from Phoenix Life in 2017 when I was 55, I got £304k which they transferred to my Fidelity SIPP. I took 25% tax free cash and other payments from the SIPP over the last few years. Phoenix life contacted me in January 2025 to say they had incorrectly valued the CETV and they owed me a further…

If an IFA sets up a guilt ladder in my SIPP, once in play is it common for him to still take his 0.75 fee? On the ladder, I know i woukd still pay the fee on the rest of the sipp.

Talking to AI suggested that I can avoid the 1.8% fee for a lump sum deposit into nest. It suggests I can open for example, a vanguard SIPP , deposit here, wait for the tax relief to be added, then transfer to nest from there. Then I can close the SIPP, therefore avoiding a 1.8% Charge. Has anyone done this before?

Are they all phone-only (with all that entails) ?

So, I'm 60 with a DB pension (circa £34k PA) plus DC & SIPP pensions (variable drawdown). With fiscal drag of the 40% tax threshold and inflation of pensions, there's a good chance that my DB + state pension will reach the 40% tax threshold (age 67). So last tax year I decided to drawdown and transfer my SIPP to ISA's…

Hi all, I spent some years as a stay at home dad (between 2009 and 2020) so I will have a gap in my NI contributions - I have heard recently that I should be able to get the NI contributions credited back? Does anyone know if this is correct and if so, how do I go about getting this done? Thanks in anticipation, JC

This discussion was created from comments split from: Money Moral Dilemma: Is it fair to ask my daughter to repay the money I gave her and her ex-husband?.

Hi, I met with my boss this week and said I was going to retire early. It was a surprise. I am highly valued in niche role, there is never going to be a good time. They would like me to stay on possibly 4 days a week. I am in turmoil. Have a meeting Monday to give response. Financially would be ok. Once I step off there’s…

Well, after many years with Aviva, from Scania Life through Friends Provident to Aviva, on logging into today I see this message: Over the next few weeks we'll be closing our Membersite. If you want to: switch funds redirect contributions research funds you'll be able to action these within MyAviva. Please speak to your…

I'd appreciate some feedback from people with experience of retirement planning on whether I'm in a position to retire now at 45, or whether I should continue working for a few more years. My current position is: Age: 45 S&S ISA: £450,000 SIPP: £460,000 Total invested: £910,000 Final salary pension: £15,000 a year from age…

Hi, opinions/sense check please! I have triggered the MPAA, therefore, I can only pay in £10K instead of £60K to my D.C. pension without incurring a tax charge. I am a higher rate tax payer, 61 years old and still employed. I believe the lesser of the two evils is to keep paying into the pension & just suck up the tax…