Fees fees fees

Thrugelmir

JonBr wrote: »

They may have their uses but the rates they are paying are pretty derisory, and there is nothing left when you die. That's why I'm dead set against them - so I am looking for something that allows a degree of flexibility, a bit of growth and leaves something after I'm gone. Tricky...

What do you regard as derisory rates? Annuities come in many different forms. Including guaranteed periods. If you wish to leave something behind. Either don't spend all your money during retirement or gift some while you are alive.

so there may come a time when it makes sense to transfer them to UK funds to crystallise the currency gains made to date

The UK markets have likwise benefited from a falling £. Due to the % of earnings that the major listed companies earn overseas.

Protecting ones gains is becoming increasingly challenging. Though the old sage Warren is sitting on an ever increasing cash pile. As is struggling to find value in the markets.

OldMusicGuy

JonBr wrote: »

This is a pretty big set of decisions I need to make. Selling the house, finding something smaller, working out what to do with the released equity, and all the time assuming its value will hold. Makes my head spin!

Your situation is pretty similar to mine, although I just retired. You need to do a detailed plan for your retirement, thinking about the various phases and income streams that you will have (eg when does SP kick in), and also what your spending needs will be over your retirement. That, and understanding your appetite for risk, will help you decide what to do.

I have a large DC pot with no DB pensions. I am holding about 23% of that as cash for no fee, the rest is invested for the long term in three well-diversified passive funds with currently around a 50/50 equity/bond split. We have a good amount of savings and ISAs that are in higher interest current accounts or a fixed interest bond ladder.

We will be downsizing next year and I'll see how things are going before deciding what to do with the equity. I think it will probably be split between the bond ladder and investments.

I am very risk averse, so this suits me. However, it may not work for you, you need to do your own plan. And if you are more risk tolerant, you may want to stick with higher equity investments and less cash.

JonBr wrote: »

About annuities. They may have their uses but the rates they are paying are pretty derisory, and there is nothing left when you die. That's why I'm dead set against them - so I am looking for something that allows a degree of flexibility, a bit of growth and leaves something after I'm gone. Tricky..
.

You can get joint life annuities and also guaranteed annuities, so it doesn't all disappear on death. But personally I won't be using annuities until later in retirement (say age 75 plus) when I want to start guaranteeing our income stream and not leave large amounts of capital unused (although still preserving enough for some care home fees).

FatherAbraham

JonBr wrote: »

!
About annuities. They may have their uses but the rates they are paying are pretty derisory, and there is nothing left when you die. That's why I'm dead set against them - so I am looking for something that allows a degree of flexibility, a bit of growth and leaves something after I'm gone. Tricky...

Buyers have been complaining about "low" annuity rates for at least 250 years. I guess they just don't understand the value of safe income for life.

I remember people complaining that 9% annuity rates were derisory, back in the early oughties.

dunstonh

About annuities. They may have their uses but the rates they are paying are pretty derisory, and there is nothing left when you die.

Annuity rates are a lot higher than savings rates. Why do you think there is nothing left when you die? You can certainly buy annuities without any death benefit. However, you can also buy annuities with return of fund or guaranteed minimum payment periods of upto 30 years.

That's why I'm dead set against them

But do you know enough about them to really make that decision?

JonBr

It seems I don't...

So I have another question about topping up my pension after retirement. Assume I chose to live off the cash for a few years and continued paying into the pension. The money paid in has been earned and taxed. Can I claim any of the tax I originally paid back when putting it into the pension?

NoMore

JonBr wrote: »

It seems I don't...

So I have another question about topping up my pension after retirement. Assume I chose to live off the cash for a few years and continued paying into the pension. The money paid in has been earned and taxed. Can I claim any of the tax I originally paid back when putting it into the pension?

this thread will explain:


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5580163/paying-2880-into-pension-when-retired

AnotherJoe

JonBr wrote: »

It seems I don't...

So I have another question about topping up my pension after retirement. Assume I chose to live off the cash for a few years and continued paying into the pension. The money paid in has been earned and taxed. Can I claim any of the tax I originally paid back when putting it into the pension?

Not at that point . If you want to do that then pay in as much as you can now whilst you are earning, using existing savings to top up the contribution if necessary. Once you are retired / not earning the most you can pay in is £2880 which will get bumped up to £3600 and you should do that every year.

JonBr

That's pretty useful, thanks... looks like I have a lot to learn!