Pensions, annuities & retirement planning

Good evening, Searching the forum, most of the entry's are at least 5 years old. Does anyone have recent experience and success on this type of transfer. I have set the wheels in motion to meet financial advisors for initial consultations and potential costs. I'm 53 and looking to retire at 57 if I can transfer the defined…

I'm wondering if there is anyone that has taken partial retirement at 50 from the NHS from the 1995 scheme? I have been working at the top of a senior band for the past 10 years but cannot face continuing in this role for another 10 years. If I take a lower banded post it will affect my pension at 60 as the 1995 scheme is…

Each month I check the L&G App to see what the value of my AVC fund is, after the contribution from the payslip at the end of the previous month has been added. In most months, the contribution is recorded by about the 12th of the month. Last month, it was the 14th. However, it still hasn't arrived for this month (4pm on…

The wife transferred her final salary pension to Standard Life several years ago, using an IFA. Other than responding to requests for flexible drawdown (once or twice a year) and making sure there is enough cash to pay his (and other) fees he doesn't appear to do much. It's still in the same investments as day one. They…

My wife and I retired a couple of years ago, her at 57 and me at 59. We both have final salary pensions that are tripple locked, her currently £16k and me £25k pa. The lump sums we received have dwindled; we cleared the mortgage, replaced our kitchen, changed a vehicle and had solar panels / heat pump installed. We top up…

I am not working and have a small Standard Life pension pot. I withdrew 25% tax free last year, I am leaving the rest of the money 13k invested. Can I add £2880 to the pot each year and be given tax relief up to £3600 even though I have no earnings? Thank you

I'm 55 in 3 months time and want to take my Defined Contribution pension at that age. There's £60000 in it - of which I want to take 25% tax free as cash. I know exactly what type of Annuity I'd like. I've looked at comparison sites to see the variable rates that are currently on offer. I seem to be drawing a blank as to…

Can you top up Sipp and then put it straight into drawdown without incurring any penalty from HMRC? It just seems a bit cynical to me. I made an employer contribution of 25k from my Ltd Co on 8th of April. I made a personal contribution of £2880 a month ago. I made another employer contribution of 5k today. Can I put the…

Back in the 2021 budget the government announced it would tackle the low earners net pay scheme tax anomaly, now called the Low Earner's Pension Payment. The anomaly was that low earners in a 'net pay' scheme (i.e a workplace pension scheme used by many employers where pension contributions are deducted from your salary by…

Say that I have SIPP above the old LTA (Life Time Allowance). Also say that I crystallise enough to receive the maximum tax free cash - I believe that it’s called the LSA (Lump Sum Allowance = 25% of old LTA). The crystallised amount less the LSA is put into a drawdown pot by my SIPP provider (AJ Bell), for later…

I'm getting very confused helping someone with their Self Assessment tax return and the state pension. Firstly, although everything seems to say the pension increased 6.4.26, it actually seems to increase the next full week, not mid week. In other words, if a pension is paid Thursday - Wednesday, the uplift is effective…

A friend asked me to post this, and if any of you lovely people could offer any thoughts; Does a full withdrawal from a New Zealand KiwiSaver scheme by a UK-resident individual, who became UK resident in September 2019 and has never received UK tax relief on KiwiSaver contributions, constitute taxable foreign pension…

I turn 55 a week before the pension age increase on 5th April 2028. I’m looking to move my DC pension of £600,000 to a provider with a slick, well defined process to claim the TFLS and crystallise the whole pot before the deadline. Note that it doesnt matter if there are delays in receiving the TFLS as long as I can claim…

I've just recieved my annual statement from Aviva, and I'm paying 1% charges on a £30k pot, so it was just under £300 in charges blast year. I'm surely better transfering it into my sipp, with AJ Bell, which looks like it's 0.5% charges. Am I missing anything? I've never transfered a pension before. Ty

Hello I used the tool below to check my state pension age. Check your State Pension age - GOV.UK It is stated as 15 May 2027. Does this mean the state pension will be paid from this point on? And does it follow that for the 2027-28 tax year I will receive only about 46 weeks state pension? I am enquiring as I claim…

I am in my 20s and have recently started working for a local authority. I’m a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and contribute a percentage of my salary into the scheme. I’ve been offered the opportunity to join a Shared Cost AVC (salary sacrifice AVC). From my understanding, contributions can benefit…

promoted by a random Reddit thread about avoiding 40% tax, I wondered what the effective rate was when considering both personal allowance and 25% TFC. I farmed it off to chatGPT as I was musing during my lunchtime and I thought the info was useful to post for those taking drawdown up to the top of basic rate your effect…

Hi all, I am in the NHS Pension which is linked to state pension age so will receive both at the same time if I retire at 68. I would like to retire at 60 or go part time which is in 15 years. To be able to do this I need to have savings/a plan to cover this gap. Due to historical part time working when my children were…

Hello In mid October I will be 66. I have a small pension about £9k. My provider has stated I can take 25% tax free, so £2,250. This leaves behind £6,750. The provider is offering an annuity of £394.97. "No guarantee period, no increase, paid monthly in arrears without proportion, no dependents income" Is it better not to…

Hi. I am in the process of buying an annuity from Scottish Widows through my financial advisor. The process of bringing three personal pensions together from three different companies has been going on since May of this year and the communication from Scottish Widows has been appalling. My advisor has made a written…