About to release 25% of private pension

lizzie953

I have had an initial phone call to  release 25% of my private pension ( my choice).  The next step is another call which apparently can last up to one hour.
As far as im aware Scottish Widows need my bank details plus what i intend to do with the remaining amount.  I have not  recently contributed and no longer wish to contribute money into the pot, so can anyone help as to what will i be asked  to keep me  on the phone for this ridiculous amount of time?  
Their online service is not updated enough to accept my plan number hence the telephone process.   My attention span for subjects ive little interest in is very limited and pensions is one of them.
Any advice much appreciated.

dunstonh

so can anyone help as to what will i be asked  to keep me  on the phone for this ridiculous amount of time?

You are buying an advice service from SW and that requires them to obtain the information sufficient to provide the advice.   You are almost certainly buying a new pension as most SW legacy plans do not support income drawdown.  So, it needs to be transferred to one that does.  As SW do not retail their products without advice, you have to go through the advice service.

Its rarely good idea to use a tied sales force as the SW product is not the best out there.   They have one option and you are limiting yourself to that one option by using them.    If you need advice then you should be using an IFA instead.    If you dont need advice then you should be using a DIY provider/platform.  Otherwise you are paying for advice that you do not appear to want.

Albermarle

They want to be sure that you know what you are doing, and that by taking 25% now that you fully realise this will reduce your income in retirement. I believe they are obliged to do all this by regulation . Plus if you come back 5 years later having spent the money and say you did not understand etc then they have a recording of the conversation to cover themselves.
Also I guess nowadays they have to check you are not some kind of scam victim.
An hour does seem a long time though.
My attention span for subjects ive little interest in is very limited and pensions is one of them.
Boring it may be but so is being skint in your old age. Not saying you will be but a good pension can make a big difference to your retirement.

steampowered

lizzie953 said:

 My attention span for subjects ive little interest in is very limited and pensions is one of them.

That sentence is insane. I don't understand how anyone could have "little interest" in hundreds of thousands of pounds of their own money! 

Ryhs_Moggy

I doubt the OP has hundreds of thousands of pounds invested. If they did, their comment does seem rather cavalier!

Albermarle

steampowered said:

lizzie953 said:

 My attention span for subjects ive little interest in is very limited and pensions is one of them.

That sentence is insane. I don't understand how anyone could have "little interest" in hundreds of thousands of pounds of their own money! 

Not everyone has hundreds of thousands in their pension, perhaps especially those who take little interest in them .

lizzie953

Thanks for your replies. So you can all sleep tonight we are not talking about a  life changing amount.  My future is covered by property.
Thank you again. 

NottinghamKnight

lizzie953 said:

Thanks for your replies. So you can all sleep tonight we are not talking about a  life changing amount.  My future is covered by property.
Thank you again. 

Easiest thing would be to transfer your pension to a diy provider and draw as you need from there, that does take a little effort but it can all be done online. Other option is to use an IFA but may nt be economic for small amounts.