Pensions, annuities & retirement planning

I have an ii SIPP which I'm planning to start drawdown from now year. As this will be my only source of income until SP starts in 7 years, I'm looking to reduce the risk of say a cyber attack impacting on platform access (the M&S one was worrying). I think it makes sense to have a second SiPP which I could access if…

Ther's been a lot of chat about whether lump sums invested fall foul of reccling rules and also the (in)famous £3600 in gross each yaer when you retire but last night it occurred to me that when you reach 55/57 (ten years before NRA) provided you have been contributing to a DC scheme have a sizeable pot and still have…

FYI: This is NOT a request for financial advise. I would like to know what your experiance of dealing with "Interactive Investor (ii)" SIPP is I would specifically like to know how easy it is to draw down ad-hoc ammounts online. (I am a senior software developer so app or online is no problem) As I am NOT going to take my…

It’s now more than four months since I requested a quote for inverse commutation of the my DB lump sum in accordance with the scheme rules. I chased one month ago requesting an update and timeframe, the administrators simply said it has been passed to the scheme actuaries and they have chased. No timescale given for…

Hi, I'm a long time lurker, first time poster. I have been enjoying this forum immensely over the last few years, especially since I saw the road to retirement end date in sight. So last week I am pleased to say I handed in my notice and triggered early retirement (ER) commencing in just over 3 months time. I have a…

I was reading up on the MSE website about tracing old pensions and clicked the link provided for Pension Tracing Service and it took me to a webpage called Pension Advice.uk. It hasn't got the same phone numbers on the page so is this a hack?

I was informed recently by HMRC that I hadn't paid enough tax for 25/26, despite my employment and private pension income all managed via PAYE. My income is stable on a monthly basis so I don't understand why I have had this unwelcome surprise. The rules around all this are stated on the guidance on the YouGov website,…

The tax office is writing to around one million lower earners who missed out on tax relief on their pension contributions, letting them know they're due a top-up of £70 on average. Here's what to watch out for and how to ensure it's not a scam. Read the full story:…

I am 72 and currently have my wife, two children and 2 grandchildren as beneficiaries on my Royal London DC pension. I have made a note in my calendar for the 5th April 2027 to change this back to 100% for my wife. My understanding is that with the new IHT changes, the children and grandchildren would have to pay IHT on…

Hi I'm 65 this autumn and because my original retirement age was 65 I've been offered a retirement options pack which includes leaving alone until I'm 67. 22 years ago I managed to rescue a private pension and move the lump sum that I rescued into a retirement fund which at the moment stands at £60,634. My options are cash…

Just looking to see if a gilt ladder would be better than an annuity…….How would i implement a gilt ladder? I am a bit worried about the required admin. I currently have an II SIPP. I would be using about 20% of the SIPP value. Should I just buy all the gilts required and hold it all in my SIPP, or is it possible to set up…

You can maximise your SIPP total value by electing to pay fees by direct debit from an external bank account instead of selling some of your investments each time. "Paying fees from your bank account via Direct Debit is not considered a pension contribution, so it does not count towards your annual allowance or affect your…

hello looking for advice I worked for an employer (2024-2025). My pension contributions were taken directly at source monthly from salary. recently I contacted the pension provider to request annual statement and info about partial retirement. The pension provider said there was no record of any contributions for the 14…

In 2022 I crystallised my SIPP for the first time by taking a PCLS of approximately £265,000. At the time it used up 99% of my LTA. I now have two pots within my SIPP - a large crystallised pot from which I drawdown a monthly income and a much smaller uncrystallised pot. The value of the uncrystallised pot is roughly…

A few years ago my husband and myself saw a financial advisor, we were aware that she wasn't an IFA but didn't fully understand that she was completely connected with SJP. We had some money we didn't know what to do with and she suggested moving some into cash ISAs that we found ourselves which is why we didn't realise…

Hi! I'm 32 and have recently got in touch with a financial advisor from Unbiased to help me consolidate my pensions and generally make me feel a bit more in control of my future . They have sent their advice for free and have sent a breakdown of their fees which are: £1400 - one charge to carry out changes which is…

Hi, all I currently have a pension with Scottish Widows (or whatever they are called now, it appears on my Halifax app) I don't contribute to it, it's currently around £112k I did take my tax free sum out of it a couple of years ago I'm now being told that because it's "crystalised" I cannot transfer it to another…

Hi all I am 60 now and want to retire now , i have a pension pot of 160k what is the best way to take it ? i have no other income and i dont want to pay tax so what take need to stay under the tax threashold till im 67.

In a couple of weeks time, I am planning to retire. Is there any advantage to me making a lump sum personal contribution into my SIPP prior to retirement? I have maxed out the £60k contributions for the last few years and have made one-off personal contributions in the past. This year, at the point of retirement, I will…

JamTomorrow is getting closer to JamToday. 50 now, planning on retiring June 2029 at 53. Quick summary of where we stand: Assets: My SIPP: ~£1.2m — currently ~60:40 equities/bonds. The bond side includes one nominal gilt sized to cover a mortgage repayment (£200k) at the end of 2032 plus the first year's £50k spend, then…