Police Pension

ventureuk

Any chance of financial advice ?

dunstonh

ventureuk wrote: »

Any chance of financial advice ?

Board is not authorised and regulated to give any. All we can do is discuss.

So retiring in 10 yrs at 48 with money to save/invest what would you do, I am not risk averse, like the idea of funds and am in it for the long haul.

risk averse needs to be put in context. How much of a loss would you accept before pulling out?

Andy_L

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

I think our only gripe is that schemes in the private sector had no option to introduce a new minimum retirement age of 55 - it's overiding legislation which has been applied, by the Government (HMRC) retrospectively.

I thought there were a number of transitional rules for schemes with ages under 55.

Debt_Free_Chick

Andy_L wrote: »

I thought there were a number of transitional rules for schemes with ages under 55.

Yes, but after April 2010 it's a cliff-edge. So someone who reaches age 50 in May 2010 then has to wait for a further 5 years to draw a pension - even though they might have spent the past 25 years planning to take it at age 50.

In the Public Sector, someone who was only 19 when the change was introduced can still expect to retire on the old rules i.e. before age 50, let alone before age 55!

Ian_W

ventureuk wrote: »

So in order to have the most bang for my buck, should my spare money go in a private pension to draw at 55,

Wouldn't have thought so as your pension provision looks good. Have a look at this thread for the pros & cons of ISAs v Pensions.
If you're not well up on investing, and you'll need some idea whether it's ISA or pension you choose, then either get an IFA you trust to advise or start learning.
This is a good thread, if somewhat lengthy about choosing investments and this SITE gives you some basics on investments.
Thing to remember is that the ISA or pension just deals with the tax treatment really - whereas the underlying investments and how they perform are what will let you "live the dream" - or not, as the case may be.
All very different from paying 11% for a final salary linked scheme but well worth learning about.
BoL.

EdInvestor

I'd suggest the OP opens an ISA with a discount broker such as https://www.h-l.co.uk and maxes it out @7k a year from now on , stocking it with a selection of 7 funds @1k each to start and then topping up or adding more each year.

The various categories of unit trusts and other funds and the top performers can be found here:

https://www.citywire.co.uk/funds/home.aspx

There are probably only around 20 or 30 really top rated funds, so once you've found them,the rest is easy.

Tip: start with the top rated fund managers.

Ian_W

If you do as Ed suggests and invest £600pm in ISAs [the limit is £7200 from next April] in 10yrs time with investment growth of 7% pa - not guaranteed but should be fairly easily achievable on a moderate risk spread - you'll have a further tax free lump sum of £105,662.47 due to the "miracle" of compound interest.
Do appreciate though that in 10yrs that will have it's buying power reduced by 30/40% due to inflation which is why your salary linked pension is such a good deal.

roddydogs

Police only live an average of 2 years after retirement? where did u get that from?
Shift Work? so that applies to everyone on shift work then?

dunstonh

roddydogs wrote: »

Police only live an average of 2 years after retirement? where did u get that from?
Shift Work? so that applies to everyone on shift work then?

A few years back there was a table published on the average life expectancy post retirement of different occupations. I cannot remember the order but I do remember police officers come out worst having just 2 years and the shift work was being blamed. Manual workers and shift workers generally had shorter lives post retirement than clerical workers.

The table was issued as a flyer to encourage planning for early retirement. I think it may have been Scot Widows but one of the other Scottish insurers.
i.e. if you are in a job with a low life expectancy if you retire at 65, why not plan to retire earlier.

peterg1965

ventureuk wrote: »

An anticipated £140000 lump sum and £1600 a month less tax based on an Excel calculator that is doing the rounds.

That is a big lump sum and a £19K pension. Does that mean you have gone for maximum commutation? If so doesn't that mean your pension will be 'frozen' until you are 55, thereafter it is revalued to take into account inflation for the previous 7 years and then index linked?

That is a generous pension, I thought mine was good in the Armed Forces scheme. Can I ask what rank you are in the Police?