How soon before 55 is best to start asking for figures

s5cyh

I am 55 next birthday with a pension that I can access then. How soon before I'm 55 can I start putting the paperwork in place to get the ball rolling? Or do I have to be 55 to start the process - thank you

AnotherJoe

Do you not have online access to this pension already to see what its worth?
What sort of pension is it and who is it with?
What are your plans for this pension? Start spending it at a tenner a month? Take it all out and buy a Lamborghini?

Are you employed?
Will you continue to be after 55?

s5cyh

Hello, it is an final salary pension pension currently frozen as I no longer work for the company, I want to pay off my mortgage of approx £40k, and yes I will be continuing to work after 55. I know I will be safe from reaching a higher tax bracket.

There is no on line access to see the pension value, you have to ring or fill a form in to get the figures

The pension is with Akzo Nobel

AnotherJoe

If it's final salary pension they will be paying you so much a month then? Minus tax and NI. Is it your intention to pay off the £40k this way by increased payments?
What's the rush paying off the mortgage? Most likely financially you'd be much better off increasing your current pension payments due to tax relief. Eg if you get paid £100 you could pay about £75 off your mortgage or put £100 into a pension.

p00hsticks

s5cyh wrote: »

Hello, it is an final salary pension pension currently frozen as I no longer work for the company, I want to pay off my mortgage of approx £40k, and yes I will be continuing to work after 55. I know I will be safe from reaching a higher tax bracket.

In that case it's highly unlikely that you'd be able to take any lump sum (if there is one - no all final salary schemes offer one) without also starting the pension payments themselves. Which is probably not what you want to do while still working.


You can ask the pension scheme for a CETV (cash equivalent pension value) to transfer the value of your final slary pension to a personal pension, but if the CETV is over £30k you have to pay to get financial advice before going aahead with any transfer, and - as discussed many times on this board previously - this is rarely seen as being a good move.

p00hsticks

AnotherJoe wrote: »

If it's final salary pension they will be paying you so much a month then? Minus tax and NI.

No NI to pay on pension income

Brynsam

s5cyh wrote: »

I am 55 next birthday with a pension that I can access then. How soon before I'm 55 can I start putting the paperwork in place to get the ball rolling? Or do I have to be 55 to start the process - thank you

Why ask here? Just contact the administrators of your scheme and ask them - that way you'll get the definitive answer.

AnotherJoe

Also, is there a decrement for starting it at age 55? It would be a strange (but good) FS that paid out from age 55 usually it would have a start age of 60 or 65 and earlier start would pay a lower amount.

MEM62

s5cyh wrote: »

Hello, it is an final salary pension pension currently frozen as I no longer work for the company, I want to pay off my mortgage of approx £40k, and yes I will be continuing to work after 55. I know I will be safe from reaching a higher tax bracket.

You may not be able to realise cash from an a defined benefit scheme. In any case, taking money from a pension to clear a mortgage at your age and when still working is usually a monumentally stupid idea. As is taking final salary benefits early, where there will be a marked reduction in the pension benefits.

Do you have a compelling reason for wanting to clear the mortgage or are you just looking for the comfort of being mortgage free?

CookieMonster

I have a frozen FS pension with Akzo Nobel (actually from Courtaulds, in the 90's). Planned retirement date I think is 65, but I can actually access from age of 50 (but at a much reduced value).

crv1963

s5cyh wrote: »

Hello, it is an final salary pension pension currently frozen as I no longer work for the company, I want to pay off my mortgage of approx £40k, and yes I will be continuing to work after 55. I know I will be safe from reaching a higher tax bracket.

There is no on line access to see the pension value, you have to ring or fill a form in to get the figures

The pension is with Akzo Nobel

I think that you should first find out what sort of figure any reduction in the pension is for taking it early. Robbing your future self of income to meet a goal of being mortgage free doesn't seem best use of the early start especially if you still plan to work.