Is it as complicated as i think?

carly

My OH is 58 yrs old and is taking voluntary redundancy in November 2012. He doesn't intend to look for another job.

At that time he will also be able to draw his final salary occupational pension. There are obviously lots of financial decisions to be made and different scenarios to consider, but I / We am a bit lost as what to do.
We do, loosely speaking, have an IFA in that a new one took over our investments when our current one retired some 7 years ago. However we have had no contact with him beyond an initial introductory letter at the time of the switch, and one ineffectual telephone conversation 5 years ago when I wanted to cash in some bonds to raise some cash for a house purchase. The holdings that link him to us is now just a Fidelity Triple maxi ISA worth around £40K.We pay £150 month into this. This is in my name. I do not work, am not a tax payer and am 55yrs old. I am only expecting to get a 70% state pension at normal retiring age due to gap in contributions.I also have £20K in a savings account ...( allegedly high interest ..ha ha ) He’s probably not interested in us and as i don’t know him at all , I’m happy to take advice elsewhere.

Currently OH pays £1000 month into a company managed AVC with Standard life. We were considering upping this contribution heavily, but is that sensible.? Current value of AVC is approx £28K

On redundancy OH will receive around £85K to £95 K lump sum in severance pay of which we know £30K will be tax free. He intends to pay the balance into his pension. I think this is allowed , yes?
The company pension will be not less than £23K with a lump sum of £69K. We dont have fixed final figures yet ,( I am going on last years annual statement from the pension fund )
There are also some shares which are not doing too well currently, £16K and a FT tracker ISA in my OH name £20K. he pays £100 month into this currently.

So....Should we see an IFA or pensions advisor ? Is it simple enough to work out what is our best way forward? OH thinks it is.

What should we do with the AVC ? Would our surplus cash be better put into a cash ISA this year or into the Standard life? My head is spinning.
We dont yet have details of the commutation factor for the pension / lump sum but what would be the best split given our financial situation. Lump sum or income ?
There is no mortgage to pay but we will need to buy a car. both in good health.
I suppose we currently live on £30K and wouldn't like to be on less. I am very risk averse whilst OH less so. He would want to legally minimise any tax paid.
Any pointers or advice welcomed.

RichandJ

Before putting any more into pension arrangements you MUST get his Annual Allowance position from his pension administrators and then seek advice.

Based on my experience I think he may already be close to breaching the £50k pa limit on tax approved pension savings. See link for further details.

http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/personal-and-stakeholder-pensions/personal-pension-plans/contribution-levels-and-tax-relief

xylophone

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pensionschemes/annual-allowance/examples.htm