Medical retirement pension blunder!!

Littleladie2004

Please help me! I was medically retired from police last year. I was very very unwell and not in a good place. I was offered 2 options of monthly pension, one with a large sum of money. Not in my nature to live for the day, always have had to save and be secure in the future. So i took the slightly larger amount of pension and said no to the money. My sister recently passed away suddenly and now on reflection & feeling a little better and now receiving advice, i feel i should have taken the money! I could have had a lovely time with my family making memories! I am going blind too, so don't know how long i will be able to see anything. I don't feel i was in the right place to make such important decisions and being alone i had no one to discuss with.
Is there anything i can do?? Is it too late to change my mind?
Any advise appreciated please!

TadleyBaggie

If you are already taking the pension then I suspect it it too late to reverse the decision.

zagubov

You may want to talk to a union/federation rep.

But it may well be that claiming the pension is irreversible, and it may be very difficult, and even impossible to change the arrangement.

Malthusian

I agree with the others that it's likely to be irreversible at this stage.

You said it's not in your nature to live for the day, so perhaps, even if you'd had only one option - the lower income and lump sum - you'd've spent the last year living your life exactly as you did in reality, with your lump sum parked in your bank account. Would you really have blown it on a new car or a holiday?

What would you spend the money on if they did reverse it? Is it an option to borrow the money against your higher pension income or release equity from your home? I wouldn't normally suggest that anyone does either of those things, but better to look at what your options actually are and how much it would cost you, than to beat yourself up over spilt milk.

xylophone

You were offered the opportunity to commute pension for lump sum - this is usually a once and for all decision, yea or nay.

My sister recently passed away suddenly and now on reflection & feeling a little better and now receiving advice, i feel i should have taken the money!

It was just the bereavement that brought on this regret? You were not having second thoughts before this event?

Remember that bereavement brings in its train a profound sadness and thoughts of the might have been - you may be using the pension question as a hook on which to hang a blanket of grief?

You have a pension which (I am assuming) more than covers your everyday needs - how about saving the excess (or part of it) into a regular saver and using it to pay for a special treat for you and your friends/family?

tacpot12

For many people not taking the lump sum will be the best decision they will ever make, and it might turn out to be the case for you, so I would stop regarding this as a blunder, but rather as a positive choice you have made.