Retiring in 2 weeks...scary times

Scallypud

Tony4625 said:

Who did you transfer with and was it a smooth transaction , if you don’t mind telling me.

It's been smooth so far. All my necessary forms have been signed off and the transfer will take place in a week or so..
You will need to take advice first before any pension provider will entertain your transfer.
AJBell and Fedelity are the two companies that i know of that are still accepting final salary pension transfer.
I hope this helps

Scallypud

Deleted_User said:

Good luck! I retired on Monday this week. So this Monday is going to be my first lie in for years, well it would be if I haven’t got to go an have a flu jab
It is scary, and with the pubs closed in tier 3 I need a hobby

Pubs still open up here so i know what my hobby will be

Scallypud

Amateurretiree said:

Your plan sounds ok to me. Is it a DB or DC pension(s)?

That’s the only thing that would worry me, if your money is all in DC pots you are at the mercy of the stock markets, though with 85000 in savings if the markets were to dip you could live off savings for a few years if you needed to while the market recovered

I retired 3 years ago with a DB, DH 2 years ago with a D.C. so the drop in March of the D.C. was a bit scary to us, but you listen to the experts, do nothing, and the fund has recovered thankfully.
It is scary taking the jump and not earning any more, but the freedom is exhilarating!

Especially since you will have no mortgage. Also, you can cut back on things if you need to when you are living ‘comfortably’ . It’s something we have discussed, not that we need to, it just gives you a bit of sense of control

I was planning in putting it in a DC pension then moving it later on. I believe shares will rise once the vaccine is distributed 

Albermarle

Scallypud said:

Tony4625 said:

Who did you transfer with and was it a smooth transaction , if you don’t mind telling me.

It's been smooth so far. All my necessary forms have been signed off and the transfer will take place in a week or so..
You will need to take advice first before any pension provider will entertain your transfer.
AJBell and Fedelity are the two companies that i know of that are still accepting final salary pension transfer.
I hope this helps

If you get a positive recommendation to transfer, then I think many pension providers will accept the transfer . If you get a negative recommendation then only a handful will . Aj Bell is one but Fidelity definitely will not accept a transfer in this scenario. 
There are hundreds of threads on this forum with people complaining about the difficulty is finding any advisor to accept this sort of work, more unusual to hear of one that seems to have gone smoothly. Also  in the large majority of cases the transfer recommendation is negative. Basically they are scared that the client will blow the money too quickly /invest it badly and then sue them for facilitating the transfer.
You can maybe understand  their worries when you hear this sort of comment  I believe shares will rise once the vaccine is distributed 

Scallypud

Albermarle said:

You can maybe understand  their worries when you hear this sort of comment  I believe shares will rise once the vaccine is distributed 

Albermarle this is only my belief of which i may be right but only time will tell.

Albermarle

Scallypud said:

Albermarle said:

You can maybe understand  their worries when you hear this sort of comment  I believe shares will rise once the vaccine is distributed 

Albermarle this is only my belief of which i may be right but only time will tell.

The first point I try to make is that you have a large DC pot that will hopefully be able to produce a steady income for many decades to come . Then what is happening during the current period is largely irrelevant , there will be many ups and downs over the years and your pot should be invested in a balanced portfolio with the long term in mind . Ignoring recent events and news is usually a good idea.
Secondly on a more short term view , if you believe that shares will rise after the vaccine has been distributed , you might well be right . However the investment professionals will have already come to the same conclusion and priced markets accordingly .November has seen strong rises in many markets .....

squirrelpie

Deleted_User said:

It is scary, and with the pubs closed in tier 3 I need a hobby

I had to give up my hobby because of covid, thank deity-of-your-choice. My hobby was going to the dentist to get another broken tooth repaired. Thankfully I haven't broken any more recently

ukdw

Scallypud said:

I decided to transfer my final salary pension. I was offered £243,000 which i couldn't turn down. I also have a private pension of £170k, With the 25% tax free money i plan to pay off mortgage , buy new car and have a good holiday. That will leave me with £310,000

Congratulations on the retirement in 2 weeks.  If the £310k is after you have taken your 25% tax free lump sum - then it looks like your £15,500 drawdown will be taxable - with £12,500 of it tax free, and £3000  at 20% -   In your position I would consider taking this £3,000 out of my £85k savings and avoiding the £600 tax at least until I reached state pension age.

Mutton_Geoff

Scallypud said:

Well i have gone and handed in my notice and will be retiring in 2 weeks. Hopefully i have worked out my sums correctly. I'm a single guy and can live off £15,500 quite comfortably. I have a pension pot of £310,000 which i plan to drawdown £15,500 a year then reduce it to £10,500 in 8 years time when my SP kicks in. I  have £85,000 in savings with no mortgage.
My mind is racing now thinking have i got enough money or what if this happens or that happens. I'm sure most folk that are about to retire have these thoughts.
Any comments or advice would be much appreciated.

As you are below the LTA, before you draw a pension, it might be worth investigating whether you can use your savings to top up your pension contributions for the last 3 years to get the tax benefit on the input. Then don't forget (assuming you are over 55) you can then draw 25% of it out tax free, so with your target of £15,500 and a standard tax allowance of £12,500, for simpler calcs, I'll call it £16,000 drawdown. 25% - £4,000 being tax free, so tax to pay on the remaining £12,000 which falls within your personal allowance. To maximise tax benefits, consider drawing a max of £16,667 and this will all be tax free, £4,167 as your tax free 25% then no tax on the remaining £12,500 as this is your personal allowance.

£16,667 is just over 5% which, imho, is reasonable. If you are able to squeeze a bit more tax benefit by converting some of your savings into the SIPP, even keeping it as cash will lower your drawdown %.

Scallypud

Albermarle said:

Scallypud said:

The first point I try to make is that you have a large DC pot that will hopefully be able to produce a steady income for many decades to come . Then what is happening during the current period is largely irrelevant , there will be many ups and downs over the years and your pot should be invested in a balanced portfolio with the long term in mind . Ignoring recent events and news is usually a good idea.

I agree with the balanced portfolio 
ukdw and Mutton_Geoff i will definitely look in to drawing out £12,500 and topping the remainder from my savings.
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions so far. All very much appreciated.