Best way to access pension

Swifty_oh_no

I have a couple of executive pension Funds with Skandia neither of which have had anything paid into them for a number of years and have just been sitting there.

I am currently in the process of moving house and at the moment can put the money to better use other than where it is sitting.

Is a plain old surrender the only/best option to make use of the money now?

bendix

Not possible.

It's a pension fund, not a savings account. It is money designed to give you an income in later life, not money for a rainy day.

In fact, you'd be best off thinking of it as 'your' money at all. It isnt. It will NEVER be wholly owned by you, free to do what you like with it.

At best you will be able to use it in later life, but you'll never 100% own it.

jamesd

Provided you're fifty years old you're able to take 25% of the total value. You can leave the rest invested in drawdown (optionally taking an income from it) or buy an annuity with it.

If you're not fifty years old you can't touch it at all and from April 2010 the minimum age increases to 55.

corporateconsulting

It all depends on the size of the funds in total - we have access to a offshore pension which can in turn invest in UK Residential property or provide access to tax-free income from age 50 (55 from 2010). Min fund value is really going to be about £500,000