Accessing Pension Fund - Advice needed

moneydragon

Thanks guys, what a mine field! I am totally confused, think my next step is to seek advice /help from an advisor

kidmugsy

moneydragon wrote: »

I am in receipt of a monthly local government pension as three years ago at the age of 55 I retired, at the same time I also received a tax free lump sum.

I understand that come April I am able to draw on the remaining pot.

You can't go about it: it's quite impossible for an LGPS pension. There's no point wasting money on an IFA: he'll just confirm the fact.

xylophone

I am totally confused, think my next step is to seek advice /help from an advisor

There is no need to be confused- you are already in receipt of your pension and have taken your lump sum- that's it!

atush

No need to waste money on an advisor, you can't do it.

Normally, you plan for things like Uni before you retire (we have twins at uni so can't retire) so in your case you should have saved you Lump sum for that.

What you can do is help her out of income, or start a DC pension now and pay into it and give her the proceeds.

sandsy

The April rule changes only affect money purchase (defined contribution) pension schemes, not defined benefit schemes which pay a defined amount on retirement and don't have a defined pot.

Whilst it is possible to transfer from DB to DC before retirement (although rarely recommended), that option is closed once you start taking the defined pension.

atush

And in future will be banned for non funded schemes.

but I think most if not all LGPS schemes are funded so can still be transferred (crucially BEFORE you take benefits) but swtill mostly unwise to do so.

jamesd

moneydragon wrote: »

I am in receipt of a monthly local government pension as three years ago at the age of 55 I retired, at the same time I also received a tax free lump sum.

I would now like to help my daughter through her university course and would like to draw £25k. ... I understand that come April I am able to draw on the remaining pot.

Yes, you can pick any pension that you have which has a pot dedicated specifically to you. That is, any defined contribution or personal pension. You can take any amount you like from any such pension.

It is not possible to take lump sums beyond the initial one from any defined benefit pensions, including the LGPS one. This does not change on 6 April 2015.

jamesd

gamakly wrote: »

Hi, I have a similar question. I also took a small lump sum from my pension about 6yrs ago. I receive only a small pension of about £34 a month and, following the new government announcement, would like to take the remainder as a lump sum.

What type of pension payment do you receive:

1. Did you have a personal pension and place it into income drawdown six years ago? If so, from 6 April 2015 you can take out any amount you like using flexi-access drawdown. Also please tell us if you will be 60 years old before 66 April 2015 and if so, what other pensions you have because you may have small pots or triviality options.

2. Did you buy an annuity with a personal pension, spending all of the pension pot to do that? If so, it is not possible to take another lump sum, though the government is consulting on the possibility of changing the law to allow selling of pension income streams in the future.

3. Is it a defined benefit pension, like final salary or average salary? If so, you can't take another lump sum.

agarnett

Is the thread topic so far not affected by this other news ?

jem16

agarnett wrote: »

Is the thread topic so far not affected by this other news ?

No it isn't as the OP does not have an annuity.