Company pension ,skint and need moneynow

weathl

??? My wife has two company pensions from previous employers both worth about £8,000 each but she no longer works and spends all day eating sweets or looking after the children as she calls it. Can anybody tell me if we can cash in these pensions or convert them into anyhting that we can use now as we are not in the bset shape financially, any help would be appreciated.

dunstonh

No.

Unless she is over the age of 50 and the pension trustees allow earlier retirement, will some of the capital be available as a tax free lump sum and the rest as income.

MarkyMarkD

Thanks for that answer DD - I thought the same but wanted someone more qualified to answer that one!

Pensions are a bit of a one-way bet - the money goes in, but generally doesn't come out for a long time. Not the best vehicle to invest in, if you think you might need it for some reason.

dunstonh

If early access was allowed, then it would defeat the purpose of what they are trying to achieve.

MarkyMarkD

Yes, but that only made sense whilst it was actually beneficial to have a pension.

Since the introduction of the daft MIG, people like OP's wife shouldn't have bothered saving at all. Stupid government!

Pal

I am not sure that the MIG is a "stupid policy". It is the way that it interacts with private savings that needs overhauling.

Anyway, you are assuming that the MIG will still exist and still be "stupid" by the time Mrs Weathl comes to retire. If it is more than 10 years away I would suggest that it will not. As a result her pension savings are not necessarily wasted.

DavidLaGuardia

Probably really costly for a small fund, but is there any reason the funds can't be transferred to a personal pension where some of the money might be Tax Free Cash available from age 50, or have I missed something?

deemy2004

??? My wife has two company pensions from previous employers both worth about £8,000 each but she no longer works and spends all day eating sweets or looking after the children as she calls it. Can anybody tell me if we can cash in these pensions or convert them into anyhting that we can use now as we are not in the bset shape financially, any help would be appreciated.

Maximum she can get is £4,000 as a lump sum, depending on the companies retirement rules.

I'm afraid the rest is wasted i.e. as per MIG above.....

DavidLaGuardia

Maximum she can get is £4,000 as a lump sum, depending on the companies retirement rules.

I'm afraid the rest is wasted i.e. as per MIG above.....

Deemy, you should not assume it will be only 25% of fund here, especially if an older occupational pension where a greater percetage if often possible

cloud_dog

I know this isn't going to help the OP's situation now but a lot of pension changes will be introduced in 2006, one of which relates to being able to have access to small pension pots. If the OP's wife's pension(s) are money purchase, as opposed to final salary, she might be able to get her hands on the money next year. The IR still haven;t confirmed the details / limits for this yet.

clooud_dog

lisyloo

Anyway, you are assuming that the MIG will still exist and still be "stupid" by the time Mrs Weathl comes to retire. If it is more than 10 years away I would suggest that it will not.

Hi Pal - Do you think there will be nothing in place of the MIG.
I know people shouldn't rely on it (and I most certainly am not) but do you really think we will ever "throw people out on the streets" i.e. not give them a minimum income?