Is my new plans any good

Steve_Abrahart

Hi All

Recently my wife passed and I have had to re-evaluate my pensions as now I only have a NHS survivor pension and lump sums instead of the whole £12k. I'm not working at the moment and not now paying in to any pensions having taken severance a year ago to care for my wife.

Im 57 at the moment and have the following:
- Standard Flexi Life Drawdown of £110k
- Savings of £90K
- Wifes NHS survivor pension of £3500 py
- I have a Teachers Pension TPS which should give me around £7500 at age 60
- I am downsizing my house so no mortgage releasing £100K+
- Im going to try and continue work till 60 and then go freelance as well as take pension as well

I was thinking of sticking all the savings into simple 1.5% savings accounts but unsure. Does my future bode well - what should I do with these savings? should I convert the Drawdown into an annuity? should I still pay in? should I put savings into TPS VC ?

Its a difficult time for me and very confused. I will be looking to see a IFA soon but was wondering what you all think.

El_Torro

I think you need to be clear on what you want to do with your cash. Do you need £190k in easy access cash earning 1.5%? If you are willing to tie some of it up for longer you can earn more than 2% on it. You could even invest some of it, though this should ideally be invested for 10 years or more.

Have you checked that you’ve qualified for the full state pension when you reach retirement age?

We can’t really tell if your future bodes well. We know roughly your income once you’ve retired, but is it enough for you? If so then I guess you’ll be fine, financially.

Steve_Abrahart

Hi - ta

I will get the full State Pension - totally forgot about that in the list. Yes locking some away at 2%+ sounds a good option. Yes its the long term savings that confuse me thus IFA chat. How does this plan out compared to other people.

AlanP_2

I'd double check SP level. At your age given you were in the TPS and possibly contracted out you may not get full amount.

Can be checked online easily.

Have you worked out what income you need and ideally want? That's the starting point, you can then consider how to get there.

xylophone

Check state pension forecast

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Steve_Abrahart

Had a look on line - i don't think thats too bad. It does tell me I need another two years and I wonder if I need to bother paying the extra two years.

You can get your State Pension on 6 February 2029.
Your forecast is £168.60 a week
£733.11 a month, £8,797.31 a year

GibbsRule_No3

Steve if it says you need another two years does it give the amount you will get IF you Don’t pay those two years? Look at that number and then decide, it might be about £9.00 less a week when SP starts to be paid.

Steve_Abrahart

Yeah its a latte or two less a week

GibbsRule_No3

Steve_Abrahart wrote: »

Yeah its a latte or two less a week

So roughly £477 (then add inflation) a year less until you die, PPOV I’d pay the two years.

Steve_Abrahart

Better pay up - sounds like lots of Lattes

Robert_McGeddon

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. I was in a fairly similar situation last year.

AlanP wrote: »

Have you worked out what income you need and ideally want? That's the starting point, you can then consider how to get there.

I think AlanP is right – you really need to get on and do this.

Your pension income is £11K from age 60. I'm guessing your state pension kicks in at age 67. So you have seven years to bridge.Crunch the income requirement calculation, make reasonable assumptions about freelance income going forward and you should be able to get a better picture of the next decade.

I'm not seeing a desperate need to make hard decisions quickly.I recommend you browse this board and the Savings and Investment board for a few weeks. You'll be amazed by how much you pick up!