opinions please,not sure what to do.

Froglet

I am pretty money savvy but pensions are quite a minefield and having been through it last year with hubbys,i now come to my situation.

I am 60 soon(hubby is 62).I have 2 long ago paid up pensions with Aviva,and one with legal and general that i am still paying into and that stands at nearly 30k

I intend leaving the L and G but have been making enquiries about the Aviva ones and now have some figures.The two combined come to nearly 17k .The amount payable each year and taken monthly represents 4.7%( i do not wish to take the tax free cash)( no dependents income)

Last year we went a financial advisor as hubby had a lot more to play with,but i was shocked at how much of it went to the IFA.Now,nothing against that,he had a lot to sort out but i feel that on 17k i don't really wish to see some of that lost.I know about the open market and we did put some figures online for him but got pestered almost daily for more info.

I have a part time job still and with that and the pension i will still be some way off paying tax.We also have a reasonable amount of savings and have monthly interest from some of it.Hubby has a small part time job and his pension but again does not pay tax.We don't have a mortgage so am ok finance wise.

Willl i really gain a lot going to the IFA and asking him to go to the open market option( i have already given aviva all my health details) The pensions are such that i may lose some of the amount if transferred to the open market,they say i get a better rate through loyalty with them

How do aviva rate in terms of giving a reasonable deal?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

xylophone

You mention that your husband does not pay tax - is he sure of his tax position?

The standard personal allowance for a person born after 5 April 1948 is £9440, approx £181 a week - if he "had a lot more to play with" and the IFA "had a lot to sort out"and he has salary and savings income, his tax might need reviewing?

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/it.htm
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxon/worked-examples.htm

You say that you are leaving L&G - to do what?

With regard to Aviva

The pensions are such that i may lose some of the amount if transferred to the open market,they say i get a better rate through loyalty with them

do you have guaranteed annuity rates?

Froglet

Thanks for your reply.Sorry,i meant i am leaving legal and general pension in place and paying in each month still.

I say he had a lot more to play with,perhaps in the scheme of things it wasn't.After tax free cash he had 85k and a third generated a fixed income the other is a type of drawdown that we can change each year with the prudential.

He definitely does not pay any tax,he has an allowance split between the 2 pension schemes and his part time work which is variable and will earn no more than 4k per year.

I quote from Aviva....

We have used the guaranteed annuity rates applicable to your plan where they produce a better pension than our standard annuity rates.The would be lost if you took the open market option

Also.....

valuable guarantees may apply at your normal retirement date.This means the income you will get from us may be higher than you will find with another insurance company.

xylophone

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/taking-payments-from-your-pension-pot/shopping-around-for-an-annuity/guaranteed-annuity-rates

Froglet

Thanks again.I have just come off the phone from speaking to Aviva.The smaller of the 2 pensions,just over 5k, does have a guaranteed rate.The other,for £11,600 does not,interestingly.

Do you know of any company online that you can get an annuity quote from that doesn't ask for your telephone no and so ends up pestering you? That is what puts me off after what happened last year.

Froglet

done some digging and gone through the money advisory service.They don't ask for phone no but give rough idea of which companies offfer what.So far canada life and saga offer more so am going to look into this.At least for the higher amount as i don't lose anything by transferring.

I trust saga,all our insurances are with them and they are way better than anywhere else.

dunstonh

done some digging and gone through the money advisory service.

A very useful guide but not reliable enough to use in real life.

They don't ask for phone no but give rough idea of which companies offfer what.So far canada life and saga offer more so am going to look into this.

In real life, it would be unlikely either of those would be top.

I trust saga,all our insurances are with them and they are way better than anywhere else.

Good for you. Sadly that does not match my experiences with them. It should also be noted that SAGA do not offer annuities. It is Legal & General under the SAGA brand. As it is a non-advice service, they take commission from the pension fund.

Froglet

Thanks for your input Dunstonh.

I have made the decision to go with Aviva for the smaller of the 2 pensions as there is a guaranteed annuity rate with them and for the last 3 years the amount in the pension hasn't gone up due to such low interest rates so i might as well get something back from it.

The larger sum i really am not sure.I spoke to saga but yes she admitted she was from legal and general.I then rang legal and general about actually transferring the pension to them to add to my current one which seems to be performing ok and if i leave it for another 5 years and possibly even pay in a bit more i will have a decent amount by then.

I don't actually need the extra income so i suppose it makes sense to just have one pension and one set of charges,yes?

However are you see saying that legal and general are not the best or is that only for an annuity? At this stage i don't really want to transfer to another scheme, have done that already about 3 times.

Froglet

A further request for some advice please if you would be so kind,anyone?

I have now decided not to convert the larger of the 2 Aviva pensions into an annuity as i don't need the income at present.So i have 2 choices.I am just over 4 years from officially retiring,ie taking the state pension.I can leave the Aviva where it is,which is a with profits pension scheme.Or i can transfer the amount,it appears with no penalties if done on or after i am 60,into Legal and General stakeholder scheme,which is invested in 4 different funds,index linked gilts,distribution,managed and property.I am getting a call from L and G on Monday to talk through how these funds are performing and whether they are the best for my situation.

It would be easier later on if i just have the one pension fund when buying an annuity,and the charges are slightly less but is it safer to have the spread of investments over the 2 seperate pensions,or would it make more sense to transfer?

I hope you don't think i am being cheeky asking for your opinions on this guys but although i am pretty money savvy about a lot of things i have never quite understood investment funds.

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

kidmugsy

Froglet wrote: »

I can leave the Aviva where it is,which is a with profits pension scheme.

With profits: have you checked whether it offered a guaranteed annuity rate (GAR) when you signed up?

Froglet

I specifically asked Aviva about this,and no it does not,it is a different type of pension to my other one.It does however have a final bonus and a loyalty bonus so as long as it is transferred after my 60th birthday the bonuses will apply.The transfer to another pension fund is exactly the same as if i was using the amount to buy an annuity either with them or another company.