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Tax Free Lump Sums - which is best to take first?
Hi my Lovelies. This is my pensions spreadsheet working out weekend, so this may be the first of a few queries, and I'm hoping to pick your collective brains if you don't mind. So far I have calculated estimated costs going forward to 85 assuming 5% inflation each year - does that seem sensible? Now I am wanting to…
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Concerned about possible pension recycling – Hope I am overthinking this?
Hello all. I’m getting myself into a bit of a muddle over the pension recycling rules and would really appreciate a sense-check to see if my worries are justified. I’ve accepted an unexpected voluntary severance offer and now plan to take early retirement and access my workplace pension on 1 January 2026. My original goal…
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ALLOCATING TAX CODE
I'm currently employed in the 40% tax bracket, and also have a military pension of £26000. My employment has a tax code of BR against it and my pension has a code of K1470 M1. is this the best use of my tax allowance or do I need to seek advice.
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LGPS retirement & subsequent pay award
I was granted an LGPS Ill Health pension in June 2025. An annual 3.2% pay award was agreed shortly afterwards to take affect from 1 April 2025, which may increase may my final salary at my leaving date. 1. Should my annual pension and lump sum be recalculated to reflect the final salary increase? 2. If so will this happen…
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Cash ladder
I am planning my 5 year cash ladder and can lock this money in, from Year 2 to 5. As I have some emergency fund and investment if need be. Atom Bank currently have some fixed rates (1 year is 4.4% AER) https://www.atombank.co.uk/savings/fixed-saver/ I was thinking of STMMS and gilts but have read some posts and it seems…
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Anyone Acting Defensively?
I just wondered, as the (US) markets continue to forge ahead, if anyone has switched funds in their pensions to a more conservative position? I have all of my DC pot in the Vanguard Lifestyle 80:20 fund, but increasingly feel a correction is coming. Should I move a proportion into cash or leave well alone? (I don't need to…
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New Job pension - not salary sacrifice
Hi I have just started a new job and the work pension is apparently not done by salary sacrifice. The employer will contribute 5% salary but employee contribution is not by salary sacrifice. However, apparently if I opt out of the nominated scheme and chose my own personal pension i can still request the 5% employer…
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New SIPP with HL to create 3x Small Pots
I have been doing lots of reading on here (thank you all) and think I understand a possible sensible path in the first couple of years of early retirement. Please tell me where this plan is likely go awry or incur the wrath of HMRC. This or next tax year may be the last where I am a 40% taxed employee as I plan to retire…
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Difference between AVC and SCAVCs (shared cost AVCs/Salary Sacrifice) - LGPS linked?
I am trying to understand the difference between AVCs and SCAVCs (otherwise known as shared cost AVCs or Salary Sacrifice? Is the only difference that SCAVCs have the added advantage of the NI savings or is there anything else? If relevant, either option would be 'linked' to my LGPS pension in that it would be a separate…
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Taking DB pension early.
Hi there, Noob, looking for advice in the pre-retirement wilderness, if anyone can advise. I’m hoping to retire in 5 years (at 60) and have a small DB pension forecast to be worth 5k pa with a 15k lump sum. I’m considering taking it at 55, in which case it is forecast to be worth 4k Pa and a 12.5k lump sum, then pay it all…
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How do you "let go" of your working life?
I'm really, really struggling with the decision on when to retire and am hoping that there are others out there who have also struggled and may have some words of wisdom on the topic. I am now 66, a state pensioner, and in receipt of a couple of DB pensions, but I am continuing to work in 2 roles (associated with the same…
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Old DC Pension Schemes from previous employers
Hi all I've recently been looking at old DC schemes still with companies from previous employers like Royal London and Standard Life . Some of these go back quite a few years and i thought I'd better look at annual charges. One charges me 0.44% per year, another charges 0.35%. I'm conscious of the compounding effect of…
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Sipp Pension
Hi all, Thank you in advance for any help received. I am looking to open a sipp pension and make payments into it from my limited company and i am the sole director. I have not opened a pension before, but i am looking to see if there is a way i can use my allowance from last year as well as this year. So pay £60,000 into…
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Not overly impressed
Following a review of the feedback received and the overall benefit to our colleagues, the Company has now decided to go ahead with the proposed pension changes highlighted below: • Changing the pension scheme into which colleagues are automatically enrolled. • Providing all eligible colleagues the option to pay their…
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Pension Review - Reeves IFA
I have recently started to review my pension pot and have and was contacted on LinkedIn by a company called Reeves IFA (https://www.reevesifa.com/) they are 92nd on the FT Top 100 IFA list and have a TrustPilot score of 4.7 from 96 people https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.reevesifa.com What they had to say seemed…
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DB Pension & Rules around funding Current Employment DC Pension
Hi All Hoping you can help me with my retirement planning strategy - I have an old DB pension that I could take in a couple of years time - lump sum and then monthly amount. If I am not retiring at that point, could I pay the equivalent of the monthly amount from my salary into my current DC work pension, so I retain the…
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NHS Physio pension and CPI
May I ask a question? I’m a NHS physiotherapist, aged 58 1/2 and being made redundant. I have contributions in both the 1995 scheme and the 2015 scheme. I plan to take my earlier 1995 pension at 60 and a much actuarily-reduced 2015 pension also at 60. Will my existing NHS pensions go up by CPI+1.5% for the next 19 months…
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How to ensure annual allowance is fully utilised
Hi all, Asking for guidance on behalf of my son. For context, he's one month into his first job. Salary ~£35k plus possible performance bonus. DC scheme, employee pays 1%, employer 8%. Employee can increase up to 25% of salary but with no further employer contribution except for half of national insurance savings due to…
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Balancing pension and S&S ISA
I'll start this thread by saying I'm going to be 46 in a few months time, so it's going to be over a decade before I can access my pension. Bearing that in mind a lot of what I am looking at is theoretical, and by the nature of the beast involves making various assumptions which may or may not be true. Still, it's a…
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confused about pension summary
Hi everyone, sorry to have to ask this which is probably just me being stupid, but..... I retired aged 56 last month from local government and have had my summary today which says i have 16 years and 87 days pensionable service @1/60th's on a final salary of £38,578 gives me a pension of around £12k a year. That is as…
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Most recent: Guide discussion: Voluntary n… by Haydn_T
22 July at 9:34AM
