Not sure if I can do this - Pension...

bertman

I had a letter from Aviva today that has my private pension statement in it. I have paid intio this for some time now and have a balance on it that could pretty much clear my debts. Is it possible to draw this down? Or am I well far of the mark?:p

trina2010

this would be better on the pensions board however I fear you would get some not so nice responses from this question which is asked so often.
Unless you are over 55 you cannot touch your pension, at that stage if you are over 55 you can take 25% as a tax free lump sum and use the rest to purchase an annuity or invest in a draw down arrangement if you have enough money.
If you are between 60 and 75 you can take the whole sum provided all of your private pension savings total less than £18,000 however this will reduce to £15000 in April 2012.

So in short no, your pension is there to provide for your retirement and you cannot access it until then.

Hope this helps

Patchthedog

How old are you? If you are 55 or over, you can draw your pension. You can take 25% of the fund as a tax free lump sum and purchase an annuity with the rest of the fund. There is also an option where you can take 25% of the fund as a tax free lump sum, leaving the remainder invested and with the ability to draw a regular (taxable) income from the fund up to a maximum amount each year. Under this option, which is generally known as income drawdown you don't have to draw any income if you don't want to.

However, taking benefits now will affect how much pension you will have in the future.

Be very careful of unscrupulous people in the financial services industry urging you into income drawdown. They may take a substantial percentage of the total fund at the start of the contract and then get paid a percentage of the fund each year.

Of course all the above is irrelevant if you are still a youngster!

Best wishes

coyocacan

There has recently been a consultation by HM Treasury on the potential to give people greater flexibility in accessing part of their private pension fund early. This consultation finished on the 25th Feb 2011, and looks like the pensions industry has come out largely against the idea - but there are supporters.

Recommend that you follow this going forward, to see what changes with regards early access emerge from Government. Just google 'early access to pensions' - plenty of articles.

trina2010

ignore that last post please, there may be lots of companies online claiming to give you early access to your pension, these are scams and you will come out with nothing.
By all means follow the government changes but i cannot stress enough do not go with one of these companies who say they can unlock your pension