Opt out of SERPS/S2P?

mark55man

after a week of waiting might I be permitted a bump. thanks Mark

KiNeL

If flexibility and early retirement is high on your list or priorities then remaining opted out at least gives you the opportunity of taking the lump sum and an annuity (or transfer of balance) from age 55. If you opt back in it will be locked until age 65.

Also, with potentially 20 years to go to state retirement, do you trust this, or any government, to play fair with those who have been prudent, I know I don't - means testing of state pensions perhaps ? - so keeping as much control of your assets as possible, even at the expense of possibly slightly lower returns, is something you might want to factor in.

mark55man

KiNeL wrote: »

If flexibility and early retirement is high on your list or priorities then remaining opted out at least gives you the opportunity of taking the lump sum and an annuity (or transfer of balance) from age 55. If you opt back in it will be locked until age 65.

Also, with potentially 20 years to go to state retirement, do you trust this, or any government, to play fair with those who have been prudent, I know I don't - means testing of state pensions perhaps ? - so keeping as much control of your assets as possible, even at the expense of possibly slightly lower returns, is something you might want to factor in.

Thanks KiNeL - two good reasons for staying opted out

Unfortunately in the absence of a reply since I first posted I have already sent my forms in, so my questions really are now around making sure I get the best return from my SERPS money, and I don't think that means leaving it in the Scottish Widow general fund

Does your answer imply that the serps funds are not touchable until 65. I was certainly assured they were transferable

Paul_Herring

mark88man wrote: »

Does your answer imply that the serps funds are not touchable until 65. I was certainly assured they were transferable

The '65' relates to when you are eligible for your state pension (which is when you'd receive the benefits of opted-in SERPS. contributions. Which in your case appears to be actually 66 (at the moment.)

Remaining opted out means that you can transfer any future rebated NI contributions as you wish (within the bounds of pension legislation of course.)

Of course, after 2012 everyone will be 'opted back in' since you won't be offered the opportunity to opt out.

mark55man

Thank you again. I note the 66!

BTW I love the Rifkind quote in your signature.

jamesd

Even after 2012 the contracted out rebates that were paid into your own pension stay in that pension and can be taken from age 55. The 2012 change abolishes the payment of more rebate money into personal pensions, without affecting existing money.

sunil1234

Hi all

Is it possible at all to confirm exactly which years were contracted out in ones past. The reason i say this is, as part of ageneral wake up call in life, i have been spring cleaning all my finances and consolidating old paid up pensions into somewhere where i can look at them online often and hence motivate myself to manage them better.

For the first NPI personal pension i was contracted out and have the statements for this. Then i joined a company group ppp scot equitable scheme but when this was transferred there was no detail on any protected rights. Since then i have been in two employer schemes for less than a year each so contributions were refunded but, again no mention of any protected rights.

I know my current scheme is contracted out but how can i tick off the previous years please, and if i have protected rights sitting out there - to be aware of them and get them back under my control.

thanks in advance

S

dunstonh

Is it possible at all to confirm exactly which years were contracted out in ones past.

Yes. Ask your pension providers.

therubster

I opted out when I was about 23 yrs old & I have just found out that as a rsult I have lost about £27,000 in bad investments.
I am in the process of optiong back in.

MOUNTY

If you have already paid the full 30 years NI contributions to entitle you to full basic pension and the government proposing increase of basic pension of £140 ( no serps), would it now be better to contract back out before the 2012 deadline.