my pension frozen - company sold out

midebt

hi there

im 55
been at the same company for 30 yrs
and in a company pension for 29yrs with contributions of £20per week for the 29 yrs.

the company also add to the payment each week

the company has been sold out and new company are not doing any pension schemes.

so in the first instance we have been told it ( the pension ) is now frozen till retirement ......we hoping to finish at 60 but have been informed that i will lose approx 25% ............so 65 is my retirment age at the moment

any advice on what i should or can do ????

dunstonh

new company are not doing any pension schemes.

They will have to from 2012 but that will probably be too late for you. Although you may get a few years out of it.

any advice on what i should or can do ????

You havent said what you want to achieve or what you are after?

midebt

im not sure what to do...i know i cannot get at it....as the word frozen keeps coming up....


im not able to retire???

as this is all ive got apaprt from my state pension when i retire....

i need advise .......

so if i put say...20£ per week ( ha ha ) in an isa....

i cannot afford .......anymore than 30 a week

what can i do for the last 10 yrs ...for a pension / my working years....

dunstonh

m not able to retire???

Your ability to retire is not linked to the pension. Your affordability to retire is the issue. You can take the pension now if you want but it may not be an option available on that pension. It may need to be transferred.

as this is all ive got apaprt from my state pension when i retire....

i need advise .......

The basic state pension is £4700 a year. You may get a little more if the final salary scheme wasnt contracted out but it wont be much.

so if i put say...20£ per week ( ha ha ) in an isa....

i cannot afford .......anymore than 30 a week

what can i do for the last 10 yrs ...for a pension / my working years....

You have the choice of ISA or pension. Pros and cons with each. Often a combination is best. However, until you do anything you need to see what the occupational pension is going to pay at 65 in todays terms. You also need to find out your state pension entitlement. Once you know how much you are going to get at 65, you can then see what you need to pay right now and which option is best to use.

EdInvestor

midebt wrote: »

so in the first instance we have been told it ( the pension ) is now frozen till retirement ......we hoping to finish at 60 but have been informed that i will lose approx 25% ............so 65 is my retirment age at the moment

If you want to retire earlier, typically you have to take a reduced pension from all schemes ( because they have to pay the pension for longer). So that is quite normal

Has the pension been "wound up" or will it continue to operate as before in tewrms of paying out pensions to retirees? You need more information.

Yoy are probably better to save your pension contributions into an ISA since you have only a few years to go before retirement.

Also you need to check your likely state pension: if your scheme was not "contracted out" you may get more than you think from that source.

Get a forecast here: https://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk