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Should I attempt to drain my DC pension pot before reaching state pension age?
I am currently retired with a USS DB pension of approximately 36.5K/year. I also have a USS DC pension pot (the so-called USS "investment builder") of approx. 45K and a SIPP pot of about 18K. I also have in the region of 2K to 3K/year of taxable interest and/or dividends from non-tax sheltered investments. I will reach…
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Looking for a pension that can be funded by family
hi I am trying to find the right product and failing Our adult stepson is going to open a pension but it will be funded by family so he had something . Currently he is self employed is there a product we can use ? Aviva said would need a financial advisor to set it up is there anything simple where we can then set up a…
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Moving pension to low risk fund
I've been slowly building up my defined contribution workplace pension knowing that I will want to start to take it relatively soon, however the pension funds are still classed as 'balanced', which probably means moderate risk. I'm nervous about a stock market crash and a big chunk being wiped from the value of my pension.…
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Where / How to find out Tax Year State Pension payments?
I am trying to find the total (gross) state pension payments I received for year 2024_25 and what tax was deducted. This seems difficult to locate. I can see a summary for my company pension but not the state one. Where or how do I get this info online or do I have to contact the DWP / HMRC or whoever? Thanks.
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Have we reached peak annuity rates?
Now that the higher interest rate medicine appears to be working and gilt yields are slightly down, does it look as though annuity rates have peaked for now? OH had a surprisingly good annuity estimate from Legal and General via moneyhelper, but when he went to the L&G website he got a slightly lower estimate using the…
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Civil service ill health pension, Alpha upper tier
Hi, I’m in receipt of civil service ill health pension at alpha upper tier and was told it is reviewed every five years - my five year point is next month. Can anyone tell me what to expect, eg do I need to provide more documents, investigations etc? I had a terrible time with my original application and finally got the…
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NHS 1995 PENSION
I am leaving my current post as I need to have less pressure. I will be going down a grade which affects my final salary. I understand it is the best of the last 3 years so I can only stay in new job for 2 years to keep max pension unless I opt out. Can I take job and opt out of pension before 2 years is up? or should I…
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SIPP help please
I’ve joined a new company and my employer have asked for pension details to set up my salary sacrifice (to keep annual under £100k) They don’t have one so I need to choose one myself. I am thinking of Aviva or Aj Bell. I’m not very pension clued up and just want something easy but to have a good return. I am planning of…
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Yet another retirement plan
Hi Folks, Hoping for any pointers/views on the following 20+ year plan. Context: Age 55, plan to retire in 5 years. Cautious investor. All income requirements covered by DB & SP pensions from age 76. Currently have £450k in SIPP/AVC/ISA/Savings Stage 1 - Age 55-67: Accumulation of growth portfolio (VWRP or similar) Stage 2…
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IFA initial cost and ongoing fees
Had a chat with an IFA who has quoted an ititial 3% tranfer fee to a SIPP from an old Royal London workplace pension with ongoing fees of 1% annual and 0.7% platfom fees, quoting an Aviva plan. Speaking to a few people who have done the same thing they say it seems quite expensive, any comparisons?
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Self Employed and Freelance workers...... PLEASE READ
Question: What's the difference between 2 and 3? Answer: 640. Yes, the difference between the annual payments for Class 2 and 3 National Insurance contributions is £640… £160 for Class 2 and £800 for Class 3. In order to pay Class 2 contributions, you need to be registered as self employed for National Insurance purposes,…
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Early-retirement wannabe
I would like to create a topic (don't see it at the moment - other than the NUMBER thread). Who is aiming for early retirement (or who has retired early already)? When did you begin planning and what drove the decision? What is the strategy for getting there? How much of a relative decline in income are you prepared to…
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Transferring pensions
The below are my pensions with the charges. I'm currently paying into the Aviva through salary sacrifice, and also have two other defined benefit pensions, one larger, one pretty small, and one other DC pot that doesn't have an online login so I haven't been able to check the charges. People's pension 8860 £6.50 0.5%…
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Salary sacrifice amount not correct?
Hi I am a higher rate tax payer, PAYE and pay into my pension via salary sacrifice. I was under the impression that I would get £1.40 be paid into my pension for every £1 that comes out of my pay, and that this would be done automatically (ie I would not need to claim directly for more tax relief). it’s not, so what am I…
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Pension transfer
I am currently with Aegon and self manage my pension portfolio. I currently have a high % in bonds but I’m nervous that we might get a bonds downturn similar to 2022 due to rising inflation. So I was looking today to move some of these bonds to general commodities and maybe some alternative defensive ETFs. I am in Gate 3…
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SERPs opt out
My wife opted out of serps back in the late 80’s. She will now receive her state pension at age of 67, she is aged 60 and no longer working or plans to work again. On the UK Gov web page it says she will get the maximum state pension and she can’t increase it via extra payments. However if I click a link that explains…
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USS Growth Fund performance vs Vanguard passive global fund performance
Hi, For the past 2 years Ive been making big monthly AVCs into my USS pension scheme (USS Growth Fund). Ive also been making much smaller monthly contributions to my SIPP (Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% - Accumulation). I might be wrong, but it seems the LifeStrategy 100% (and many other passive global trackers) have performed…
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Self Assessment: Baffled by State Pension figures
I am attempting to complete my Self Assessment for 2024/25. The State Pension figure on the online form is already filled in by the system. The figure given is £13031. I may be being stupid here but I cannot understand where that number comes from. The HMRC website only gives weekly figures for the state pension.…
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Am I better off making AVCs salary sacrificed or not?
Hi all, I have my pension with USS. At the moment I pay monthly £2.4k AVCs into the USS scheme. I also pay £17k pa into my SIPP. (Im aware this tips me over the AA. I know this removes the tax incentive, but my thinking is that at least I know Im using my AA, and the few K Im contributing above this, I would only invest in…
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Pension recycling query
I apologise if this has been asked many times before but I tried searching the forum for "recycling" and it came up with a lot of non-pension related threads! Anyway, I am rapidly approaching my 60th birthday and have a small pension pot with Scottish Widows that is due to be available next month and I need to decide what…
Got questions about boosting your state pension by checking your record with the Future Pension Centre and making voluntary National Insurance contributions?
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