Pension Advice

a_rose_by_any_other_name_2

I was wondering if anyone could offer me some advice. I, until last September, has spent two years working for my Local Authority and paying into their pension fund. I want to cash in this pension, they have advised that I would have to transfer it to do this. How would I go about transferring it to cash it in?

Many thanks

zzzLazyDaisy

How old are you?

You can't cash in a pension unless you have reached the retirement age specified by the pension provider. Even then, you can only cash the pension in if the pension and plus other pensions that you may have contributed to meet the trivial pensions criteria.

a_rose_by_any_other_name_2

Thank you, I had no idea how everything works, I was lead to believe that I could cash it in when I finished working for the local authority.

pink_marshmallow

i have a small personal pension worth about £2.000. i will be 60 in sept but not get my state pension until the following march. i have had a letter from my pension provider saying it will mature 1/12/2010 and giving lots of options about annuities which i don't want.
my question is..... can i claim it all in cash instead?, if so how do i go about it?

kind regards

zzzLazyDaisy

If you have no other pensions from any other employment then you can claim the pension as a cash lump sum. You should contact the pension scheme provider and tell them you wish to cash in the pension under the trivial pension rules.

molerat

If the total of ALL pension funds is below 1% of the lifetime allowance, 1% is currently [STRIKE]£17500[/STRIKE]£18000, you can claim a trivial commutation of those funds. You need to speak to your pension provider.

pink_marshmallow

thanks for the advice, just remembered i get £120 a month from my previous employment as i took early retirement at the age of 54. does this count as well?

kind regards

thanks for taking the trouble to reply

mad_bad_spender

molerat wrote: »

If the total of ALL pension funds is below 1% of the lifetime allowance, 1% is currently £17500, you can claim a trivial commutation of those funds. You need to speak to your pension provider.

The lifetime allowance has increased and the 1% is now £18,000. and dont forget you need to be 60, not just the pension minimum age of 55

molerat

pink_marshmallow wrote: »

thanks for the advice, just remembered i get £120 a month from my previous employment as i took early retirement at the age of 54. does this count as well?

kind regards

thanks for taking the trouble to reply

Yes that will be taken into the calculations. Looks like you are over the limit. £1 gross pa pension in payment = £25 capital so 120 x 12 x 25 = £36000.

HUGO_DAR

I have a similar situation , whereby I have a number of policies, pension, endowment, life insurance. I have asked a financial adviser to look at them for me as they claim they can get a higher surrender value than the issuing companies. The advisorhas yet to come back to me, not sure about his fees or i could have negotiated a better deal myself.Has anyone elso had a similar issue?...ty........Hugo

dunstonh

HUGO_DAR wrote: »

I have a similar situation , whereby I have a number of policies, pension, endowment, life insurance. I have asked a financial adviser to look at them for me as they claim they can get a higher surrender value than the issuing companies. The advisorhas yet to come back to me, not sure about his fees or i could have negotiated a better deal myself.Has anyone elso had a similar issue?...ty........Hugo

The only way to get a better value on surrender values is to sell the policy on the traded life policy market. However, that wouldnt apply to pensions. Typically, it only really applies to endowment policies in the UK in the mainstream market.

It is quite possible, even probable, that a modern personal pension plan can come in with lower charges than an older plan but that doesnt improve any initial value. Indeed, with some, it can mean taking a step back to take two forward where there is a penalty charge initially but lower ongoing charges which offset it over time.

FINANCIAL advisors freinds or foe

Depends on the type of adviser. Generally, you should avoid using a financial adviser and aim to use an independent financial adviser. Personalities aside, the IFA should beat the FA 99% of the time on what they can offer.