Pensions, annuities & retirement planning

Hi, I’ve worked for the NHS for over 9 years and always opt out of the pension as I can’t afford the monthly amount. So I assume that I will get no pension when I retire. However today I was told by another employee that the NHS still pay into a pension, is anyone able to clarify this please? 

Not sure if this is the right place to post... My husband and I have just started divorce proceedings and are amicable. We were naively looking to split the value of our home (no mortgage) between us and equally share our combined debts and modest savings. Having reached a figure I would then remortgage for that amount to…

Hello I have already made some withdrawals from my small private pension and used up all the 25% tax free amount. When I make another small withdrawal only £300 will Standard LIfe my provider take tax at source so that I only receive 80% of the amount requested? I should not be paying any tax and therefore which HMRC form…

My wife will be 60 in February next year. She worked for NHS part time from 2001 to April 2025 with a one-year break. During much of this time she made AVCs (extra years). I've been trying to establish what she is entitled to from next Feb and what the best option from a McCloud point of view is. We submitted a request at…

Hi all. I just wanted to check my understanding on how carry forward works. We are in a fortunate position this year that my wife will be able to contribute more than the annual allowance to her pension this tax year. Her earnings will be enough to cover what she wants to put in via salary sacrifice and will need to use…

Filling out my self assessment form for the first time ever due to ebay sales and amd being asked "Do you want to pay Class 2 NICs voluntarily?" and its says it will be £91. What would this do for me? I am 60 and retired, taking 2 works pensions and am 1 year short of the max pension at £226 out of £230 max

My wife is 76 so receiving the lower state pension. Reading Martins advice regarding HRP we went online to see her National Insurance record to find that years 1975 to 1990 show as “year is not full.” Our son was born in March 1975 but our records regarding Child Benefit have been mislaid probably during house moves. We…

Hi All I've been paying additional voluntary contributions into a company DC scheme close to the annual allowance for the last 6 years. All was good until recently when I was informed by a deferred DB pension scheme, that due to an increase in my benefits they had applied a pension input amount of over £95K for financial…

I am hoping that someone can give me a sanity check. My wife has been working full time in the NHS since 2007, and recently got her TRS Statement which I understand based on the two scenarios. She is going to retire fully in 3 years at 60. From now on she is reducing her days to 3 days working. Am I correct that her 1995…

Hello All New to all of this and hoping for some general pointers. My partner and I are separating (filed for DIY divorce 3 weeks ago). We are amicable and want to sort things out as simply as possible. We own our house worth 300k. We have no children and have both worked in similarly paid jobs. However their pension is a…

I am struggling a bit to understand the consequences of early retirement from a DB pension with NRD 60. Previously I'd gone along with the consensus that you need to live to mid 80s before early retirement starts to lose out. But if you factor in increases in deferment, I am struggling to see how you get past mid 70s.…

63 y.o.male. Currently in receipt of £25k DB pension. Also have £200k flexible drawdown DC pension Still working self-employed earning about £12.5k p.a. In recent years have always contributed at least £10k p.a. to pension pot. Was thinking of contributing a single payment of £8k to DC pension every February and then…

Following Martin's advice we checked my husband’s qualifying years and he is short on 3 years that we can pay to make up and registered for a call back before the deadline (Apr 2025). The call back was due to my husband having limited capacity for work due to ill health. He was able to claim contribution-based ESA which…

Aside from the difference in earliest age they can be accessed (55/57 versus 60) and contribution limits per annum, is there a material benefit to contributing a regular monthly amount into one of these versus the other? LISA contributions are made from post tax salary, with 25% uplift, and available at 60 for retirement…

Hiya all....I'm thinking of starting a partial encashment of my pension pot.... 15k withdrawal gets me roughly 12.7 k after tax free portion and the 20% tax on remainder...I get this as a lump sum. My question is what's the best way to transfer 1k per month into my bank account on a regular basis until money runs…

my widowed mum recently died leaving an estate of 335k. My dad died back in June 1985 and didn’t use any IHT allowance or capital tax allowance as it was then known. The rate for that year was 67k. Can I transfer the 67k to my late mums 325k so we don’t have to pay any IHT? There doesn’t seem to be a form to do this for…

I am below that amount but am thinking ahead. I am with ii and did Google it and it would appear that if ii fails I would still have all my investments. "Interactive Investor Services Limited is an investment firm and not a bank. Unlike a bank, your assets are never mixed with those of ii – they are kept in legally…

My understanding is that you can contribute £2880 into a pension yearly if you have no salary. My salary is approx £2000 per year. Does this mean I am restricted to paying in £2000 a year, or could I pay in £2880

I have only just noticed that a teaching fixed term post I did in 2012 is missing from my teachers pension statement. They have advised me to contact the school to try and resolve this but with the head now retired and lots of staff changes I’m sure I will get much help. I know that I haven’t kept payslips or bank…

A thread I started yesterday about messing with my gilts received the appropriate ‘how does it fit with your strategy?’ reply, which promoted me to sketch this retirement plan. I have not used any template, just a blank sheet of paper, so I am happy for the structure as well as the content being critiqued as strongly as…