Royal Mail Pension help please

garyj123

Hi all hope i dont come across as stupid but i know nothing about pensions at all. Anyway i have had a pension with royal mail for about 3 and a half years. I no longer work for them and so no longer pay into it. What can i do now with this pension??
Can i cash it in? or do i need to set up a new pension of my own and transfer it?
ANy help would be appreciated
Thanks all
Gary

pennyforthem

I will very much look forward to the response of this one !!!!!:beer:

I was sacked due to my health by the royal mail some years ago (thats right not medically retired!!!) and I had paid in over £3500 I received a statement a few years after stating it was now worth just over £1000 !!!!!:mad: Not only this it clearly states that you can cash in your pension if you have lost your job to your health and the Government even was allowing people to cash in their pensions I am of course still waiting for mine !!!!!!!!!!:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: AAAArrrrhhhhh what a wonderful company to work for !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek:

valbain

Me too! Sacked due to ill health ( not medically retired) willing worker with unblemished work record, requested a statement cause had never received any, worked in Processing for 10 years, latest statement shows small pension of £1,420, requested all previous statements from them, also told them I wanted yearly statements, gather that my pension has been frozen, still waiting for copies of back years, am I doing the right thing in keeping this until I reach retirement age, does anyone know?

987654

garyj123 wrote: »

Hi all hope i dont come across as stupid but i know nothing about pensions at all. Anyway i have had a pension with royal mail for about 3 and a half years. I no longer work for them and so no longer pay into it. What can i do now with this pension??
Can i cash it in? or do i need to set up a new pension of my own and transfer it?
ANy help would be appreciated
Thanks all
Gary

You can leave it where it is and get a small pension on retirement. Or you can transfer it to another pension if you have one.

It's worth talking with a financial advisor to get personal advice.

You can't cash it in & take the money you have paid in as cash.

pennyforthem

You can't cash it in & take the money you have paid in as cash.[/QUOTE]

Actually what I was referring to was some time ago someone was alegedly working on my behalf to get my pension as I am legally entitaled to it and the goverment then allowed everyone with a small pension to release it into cash. So yes I am entiteled to cash both by the rules set out in the pension AND because the goverment allowed EVERYONE to cash in small pensions !!!!!!!!

Whats the moral of the story NEVER have anything to do with the government !!!!!!!!! They dont even pay my incapacity benefit regularly and the current status is two weeks behind with another payment due this coming tuesday !!!
And yes I also come with excellent references and have been offered jobs since when not even looking !!!!!!!

EdInvestor

pennyforthem wrote: »

I am legally entitaled to it and the goverment then allowed everyone with a small pension to release it into cash. So yes I am entiteled to cash both by the rules set out in the pension AND because the goverment allowed EVERYONE to cash in small pensions !!!!!!!!

To get a pension back in cash you have to be over 60, and the total of all your pensions (except state) has to be a max of 16,500 and all the small pensions must be taken within one year.

Does this apply to you?

whitfreak

hmm I know if you have under 2 years worth of contributions you can get your contibutions back (minus any tax rebate it got). But other than that I'm not sure.

Pennyforthem when you said you've paid in 3000 odd and its now worth £1000, is it a defined benifit scheme where you'd be paid £1000 a year if allowed now, or that the sum availible to go and buy an anunity is £1000. One situation is alot better than the other....

garyj123

So if i dont transfer it to somewhere else within a year i will lose it?? Not over 60 yet so cant cash it in.

Andy_L

garyj123 wrote: »

So if i dont transfer it to somewhere else within a year i will lose it?? Not over 60 yet so cant cash it in.

No, if you leave it where it is it will increase by inflation (RPI) each year (assuming its the RM final salary scheme)

Pollycat

Andy_L wrote: »

No, if you leave it where it is it will increase by inflation (RPI) each year (assuming its the RM final salary scheme)

I think that the later RM pension scheme (used to be called POPS - :Post Office Pension Scheme as opposed to POSSF - Post Office Staff Superannuation Scheme which was closed to new members years ago) is capped to a certain % of RPI (may be 5%?) whereas POSSF pays full RPI.

I beleive that RM have just extended retirement age from 60 to 65, I don't know how that change affects members with deferred benefits.

Andy_L

If you're a deferred member you keep the rules in place when you left, so in this case retirement age stays at 60.