Pension

G2J

I have a pension of 20 years in a private company which was deferred in 1995 it is also index linked when i was 50 i tried to get my pension only to be told that it wasnt in their rules to let me have my pension and i would have to wait till im 65 is this right ?

dunstonh

G2J wrote: »

I have a pension of 20 years in a private company which was deferred in 1995 it is also index linked when i was 50 i tried to get my pension only to be told that it wasnt in their rules to let me have my pension and i would have to wait till im 65 is this right ?

It could be right. It depends on the scheme rules.

G2J

If the company i have my pension with wont allow me to have it what is my next step ?

dunstonh

G2J wrote: »

If the company i have my pension with wont allow me to have it what is my next step ?

What is their reason for not letting you have it?

How old are you?

Loughton_Monkey

By law, most pensions cannot be taken until you reach 55. Even then, some of the company final salary schemes have their own 'rules'. Most of them do, however, allow taking them any time after age 55, but very often it is not in your interests to do it. This largely arises from the fact that benefits are "guaranteed" at a certain level at the 'normal retirement age' - often 60 or 65. To deviate from that Normal Retirement Age - if possible - involves and individual one-off calculation which is basically take it or leave it, and is rarely as generous as the original guarantee.

thenudeone

You are always entitled to transfer the value of the pension (calculated in a specific way, if it's a final or average salary-based one) to another authorised pension scheme.

But if you transfer from a final or average salary-based pension to a money-purchase one, you will lose any link to a specific level of earnings, and the income you eventually get will be entirely dependant on investment returns and annuity prices, so there is a risk that you could get a massively lower pension.

For this reason, Most (if not ALL?) pension providers will not accept transfers in from this type of scheme unless an IFA has given you advice. This is to prevent you accusing them of mis-selling it to you. Most IFAs would be very reluctant to advise you to move a scheme in these circumstances, because it would probably be very poor advice, for which you could sue the pants off them for.

Zelazny

thenudeone wrote: »

You are always entitled to transfer the value of the pension (calculated in a specific way, if it's a final or average salary-based one) to another authorised pension scheme.

Just to be a pedant, you are not entitled to transfer your benefits if you are within 1 year of your normal retirement age. Otherwise thenudeone is exactly right :-)