frozen pension advise please

xylophone

I have to say that if they must guarantee to pay you a pension of around £200 a month at age 65 and that they also pay a lump sum on retirement in addition to the pension and that there is also a widow's pension the transfer out value of 23,622 seems very low.

Do you have a scheme booklet? If not, you might ask for one.

If you do not transfer out and take a pension from the plan at age 65, how does the pension increase in payment (a) if it is all GMP or (b) if it is all scheme pension? Read the Scheme Booklet and if not clear ask the administrator.

You might benefit from a chat with TPAS.

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/

steveh6874

Been trying to get all the information i have together and it is as follows



the kind of pension you hold is a money purchase pension with a GMP underpin

your benefits within the plan consist of defined contribution DC funds

money tier investments total £23.622
the GMP underpin is the minimum amount that we are allowed to pay upon your 65th birthday {GMP age }
upon retirement your GMP fund is converted into a pension per annum , if the pension per annum provided by the MPT fund is lower than the GMP payable then the underpin bites and benefits would not become payable untill the earliest of age 62 {scheme retirement age }


for example

if the GMP underpin was £1000pa this would be the minimum amount we could pay from age 65 ,if the MPTfund was to provide a pension of £800 pa we would be unable to pay you before the scheme retirement age of 62, from age 62you would receive £800 pa and once you reached aged 65 the pension would increase to £100 pa in line with the GMP payable
if the MPT fund was to provide a pension of £1200 pa {after early retirement factors ad been applied }you would be able to take this pension prior to the scheme retirement age but not before 55
as well as your pension the plan also provides an additional lump sum upon retirement and the plan will provide a spouses pension of 50% upon your death



as the GMP at date of leaving was pre 88 £59.28 and post 88 £105.04 and the revaluation is fixed at 7.5% the GMP at state pension age would be pre 88 £861.12 and post 88 £1525.68 totalling £2386.80

the document shows that your current transfer value £23,525.87 is higher than the GMP payable £20,622.34 for transfer

the NRA for the scheme is age 65 however the members pension age is 62 allowing members to take scheme benefits unreduced , if the pension is lower the GMP the pension will increase to the GMP from your 65 th birthday , for pension to be taken prior to 62 the scheme pension must be higher than the GMP payable

the spouses pension pension is payable in retirement as 50% of the full pension , in deferment a widows GMP is payable with excess payable as a discretionary lump sum , this does not affect the members pension

we are unable to project pension benefits more than 6 months in advance so we are unable to provide a quotation for your 62 nd birthday



thats everthing i can find about the plan that they have provided
thank you

xylophone

if the GMP underpin was £1000pa this would be the minimum amount we could pay from age 65 ,if the MPTfund was to provide a pension of £800 pa we would be unable to pay you before the scheme retirement age of 62, from age 62you would receive £800 pa and once you reached aged 65 the pension would increase to £100 pa in line with the GMP payable

£1000 per annum?

My comments in 22 above still stand and I think that you need answers to these questions.

As I suggest above, a chat with TPAS might benefit you - you might also seek an interview with Pension Wise although the scheme as described does seem closer to DB than DC.

In essence however, do you think that the transfer value offered adequately compensates you for foregoing the GMP/lump sum/widow's pension/ (indexation/escalation if available)?

steveh6874

thank you xylophone youve been very kind and helpful much appreciated , you have given me a lot to think about

i am going to book an appointment with pension wise and request a full detailed report on my scheme from the providers outlining all my benefits
Thank you