Which Pension

jamieboy

I am 59 and due to retire in February, I will have a pension fund of approx £60k, my husband is retired due to ill health and receives the higher limit of DLA plus incapacity benefit, does anyone know what my best option will be. I am not entitled to a state pension as I only paid the reduced N.I. contributions, my husband is 62.

EdInvestor

Suggest you get a quote from your pension company for an annuity from your fund and then go and see the CAB to see what might be due to you for pension credit, a means tested top-up benefit for oldies with small pensions.It also gives free council tax and housing benefit.

You can get a rough idea of what you will get from your pension fund here:

https://www.fsa.gov.uk/tables

dunstonh

FSA tables are just a guide and not reliable. Do not rely on these when choosing your company. That is initial information but an IFA would then phone the top 3-5 companies in that list and get real figures. The amounts and the order of companies will change. There are also providers that do not supply data to appear in those tables who can be considered.

Also, if you are a smoker or have high cholestoral, high blood pressure or on 2 or more perscribed medications, you should be able to get better rates than standard. This sounds like it may apply here.

I suggest you talk this through with an IFA. You have nothing to lose. If you do it yourself, the company you do it with keeps the commission for themselves. If you use an IFA, they will keep the commission. Either way, you dont get it and with the IFA, they will be able to use the enhanced companies, many of whom only transact through IFAs.

EdInvestor

You can also take 25% tax free cash from the fund.How will this impact benefits?This is a much more complex area than just trying to get a high annuity rate.

For instance the benefits interaction might mean it would be more sensible for the OP to go into drawdown with the flexible income it offers.

Does the OP and hubby own their home?

dunstonh

A number of the reduced health annuities can offer buy back protection as well and at 59, that may be worth considering. There are actually a lot of options to consider here. Some of which are a once in a lifetime decision so it needs to be right from the outset.

jamieboy

To EdInvestor, thanks for your reply, in answer to your question, yes we do own our home. We do not have a mortgage and pay our own council tax so I don't think we would be entitled to any benefits.

EdInvestor

jamieboy wrote: »

To EdInvestor, thanks for your reply, in answer to your question, yes we do own our home. We do not have a mortgage and pay our own council tax so I don't think we would be entitled to any benefits.

Have you actually checked? Owning your own home is no barrier to getting benefits.

https://www.entitledto.com