Pensions, annuities & retirement planning

I turned 40 this year and reasoned that another 25 years at the coal face in my industry is not as attractive as it was when I was 20, so I'm looking for a way out that doesn't leave me potless in retirement. I am fortunate enough to have been very lucky with some investments in the Stock Market a few years ago so I have a…

So the default for the CS pension is that the named dependent (eg spouse) will get a pension of 37.5% of the members pension if the member dies first. I want my spouse to get more than this, there is a process called Allocation whereby the member accepts a lower pension and the survivor pension is increased, the exact…

Today was the day I took the step into retirement - well, in 3 months time to be exact. I notified my clients, I notified my pension provider and I notified my family. I’ve been thinking about this for ages, but for some reason those thoughts accelerated over the last few weeks and days and crystallised into action other…

My current £400k DC pension is with Standard Life and until now I have been happy enough but I need to move it. I’m looking for suggestions/recommendations. Not my original plan but I found out that I can get an enhanced annuity of £7,900 pa for £150,000 (3% growth, 50% spouse and 10 year guarantee) and I could then use…

I would be very grateful for any advice on this subject, would the ombudsman be able to help or am I going on a wild goose chase? Basically I was employed by a registered charity for a year in the late eighties during which I paid into their private pension scheme as well as paying NI contributions. I have a statement…

I recently took my drawdown pension as income although I continue paying in. i have been advised by the company the max I can now put in one year is now 10000 including tax relief. I have also been told I cannot go back 4 years to use up unused allowances! Is that correct?

kind of parallel to my ‘death is expensive’ thread but this is more about day to day stuff. At state pension age I’ve estimated my DB and two state pensions will cover all our needs - essential and discretionary. so our DC funds (and early DB) is focused on the bridge. after all is said and done we estimate to stop needing…

My wife has an old DB pension.She has been offered a couple of options at the moment which are Full pension £12270pa or reduced pension of £9250 pa plus lump sum of £61560. She still has 8 years before she collects her state pension ,I'm already getting my state pension and have some small pensions which I will look into…

The triple lock is based on the "Average Earnings Growth" figure for July 2025 (released in August 2025) and the CPI for September 2025. Does anyone know what the "Average Earnings Growth" figure is for this July? I'm finding it very difficult to track down and find out if it's the figure including bonses or not.

Hello, Sorry if this has been asked several times before, I am slightly overwhelmed with a lot of information that I don't understand. I currently have three 'old' pensions from previous employers that are not doing a lot. They haven't had any contributions into them for over a decade, and have been sat there with very low…

I'm in a fortunate position. I earn c£60 gross, and can expect c£20k in savings interest this year. I have a SIPP of £35k (so far) and will have a significant DB pension too. I would rather avoid paying c£8k of tax on savings interest, as well as potentially staying below the 40% tax threshold. Everything I can get into…

I am in receipt of the state pension, but have a pension fund that needs a decision. I will I draw out the 25% as cash and put it into savings or ISA. If there is little tax free entitlement left, am I better taking it and putting it into a savings account; 4.5% seems available, and pay the 20% tax now, or get an fixed…

Hi, I have 3 old pensions with a single provider that are connected and I am not allowed to separate or add to. I currently am looking to draw down about half the balance which obviously I am not allowed to do. My query is, should I transfer all the funds to another pension and then draw down just what I need? Or Should I…

Hi My brother is being made ill health retired at 49 from the fire service (bad back) - below is snapshot of benefit options. It looks pretty clear to me which option he should take, but just want to check that there's only one real sensible option…. I believe he has a choice of being in Legacy or Reformed Benefits plan:…

Hi all, I'm looking for a sanity check on my long-term retirement plan before pulling the trigger. My wife and I are both late 30s/early 40s, with a young teenager. We're both full-time public sector workers with Alpha pensions (Defined Benefit) which we've paid into for more than 15 years. We earn around £97k gross per…

Hello I recently got a lump sum from a retirement investment account. They sent me a P45 with the payment. I am currently working. do I need to hand this P45 in to my employer?

It's a long story. Joined nhs late 1980s but didn't join nhs pension. Took out private pension early 1990s. Joined nhs pension scheme mid 1990s. The private pension went under a review and found to be missold so it purchased a certain number of years of nhs pension. That went through nov 1997. On going through paperwork,…

I worked at a prison for a couple of years, and I have payslips that show I was paying into a pension during that time. Part way through the employment the contract was taken over by a new company. I have two employee record numbers for this time. The first employer has now gone, they were taken over by another company. I…

I read that nest is rolling out flex access drawdown and that once done you will be able to take 25% of pot tax free - anybody know when this is likely to be available?

My basic plan looks fine - stress tested for 2% real returns and monte carlo etc. But if one of us dies (specifically me as the most impactful) - my DB gets cut in half, and we lose one state pension (after 67 - prior to that we have life insurance still in place). Before, almost all funds were covered by guaranteed…