Not sure what to do or where to get advice.

dunstonh

SSTJCKel said:

Now this is interesting. Has anyone any thoughts on the Pensions Advisory Service ?
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/02/martin-lewis-pension-savings/

Thoughts in what respect?    Despite its name, it does not give advice.  The website has snippets of information on a generic basis but it's unlikely to be helpful to you

xylophone

https://adviserbook.co.uk/
Tick "confirmed independent" and "pensions and retirement" when the menu comes up.
You could then ring round to check on fees etc.

TVAS

The fact is you cannot afford to retire now and you do not own your own home, your pension is insufficient and you have 20k debts. You have not said what you can live on in retirement, you have not said how much the boat will cost so I do not know if 25% of your total non state pension is lower or higher than the boat cost. However as you mention encashing the whole fund to buy a boat you do not appear to have sufficient funds. 
Depends how badly you want a boat would you be willing to get a second job to pay your debts faster?
Can you balance transfer and cut up the credit card to get a lower rate of interest? USE MSE Credit Card eligibility. 
As you are 62 use the Pension Tracing Service just in case there is a pension long ago that you have forgotten about. Good luck.  

gm0

PensionWise can be useful to describe the basic range of options for taking a pension that exist. In a conversation - alongside/in addition to reading pension scheme retirement letters/packs or on the web such as here.  Some people find verbal communication + Q&A a better way to take on new information in a jargon filled and fairly complex topic. 
They will also likely signpost you towards "consider taking professional advice" if your fund sizes make that accessible. They don't tell you what to do or what to invest in.  This is all part of the "no liability" stance the lawyers have reviewed into what they do.  But they can help you understand and cutdown the various pension access options on the list to the few that suit/interest you most.  You can be lucky or not with the particular person on shift for your appointment and whether your questions fall in their comfort zone.  It is a fairly scripted activity.

Pension Advisory Service is also useful to clear up specific *rules* questions and ambiguities.  I personally found them more "on it" than PensionWise on the details. (To be fair PensionWise will in any event send you to PAS for questions they can't/don't handle).  PAS are also not tailored advice - they have a rule about "no calculations done for you".  But they are a fairly good place to get confirmation of *your* correct understanding of the rules i.e. how you think they work and thus apply to your particular circumstances.  

SSTJCKel

Many thanks for all your thoughts and help. I at least have a path to get more advice now and will definitely take the option of the first free chat with an adviser possibly followed up if I can then justify the cost. The pointers on here will be very helpful.

SomeMadeUpName

Hi, this is my first post on the forum, so be gentle if I !!!!!! anything up, but here's my thoughts:
The OP has said that he/she has £20k of debts they are working to pay off. If those debts are costing them interest then isn't the first priority to try and lose them? Is there anyway to use the larger pension pot to wipe out the debts, thereby freeing up disposable income to push back into the pension pot? I'm thinking take 25% of the largest pot (the OP is over 55yrs) putting the rest into a drawdown product, pay off the debts, use the money then freed up to put back into a different scheme (the workplace one maybe). Like I say though I'm new to the forum and new to thinking about pensions (just starting on the reading up) so I have a nagging doubt about the suggestion which is: If you do any drawdown on any part of your pension provision are you then much more limited about what you can put in thereafter? I have a feeling that early on I read something that implied once you drew on any of the funds you could only contribute a max of £4k going forward, instead of the usual max of £40k (I wish that was a limit I was concerned about).
OP: For God's sake don't do anything based on my thoughts, I know little at the moment and am just thinking aloud!

SomeMadeUpName

SomeMadeUpName said:

Hi, this is my first post on the forum, so be gentle if I !!!!!! anything up, but here's my thoughts:

Ha! There's a profanity filter, brilliant. I'm surprised that particular phrase triggered it, but I guess used in another context the word could cause offence. Sorry.

AlanP_2

 If you do any drawdown on any part of your pension provision are you then much more limited about what you can put in thereafter? I have a feeling that early on I read something that implied once you drew on any of the funds you could only contribute a max of £4k going forward, instead of the usual max of £40k (I wish that was a limit I was concerned about).

Taking the 25% tax free lump sum and putting the pension "in to drawdown" does not trigger the reduction from £40k to £k in the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA).

Taking even 1p of taxable income from the 75% taxable pot does trigger it.

NOTE (not relevant to OP but for reference) - MPAA only applies for DC contributions and for money taken out of DC schemes. If a DB scheme then it isn't an issue.

SomeMadeUpName

Thx, so the OP could take the £25k from his large pot, but the balance into a drawdown product (or buy an annuity I guess) leave that untouched until he/she is definitely stopping paying into pension (so when they stop work most likely) and use the freed up income that was going to pay off the debts to stuff more money into another pot. The benefit being that paying off the debts is currently being done from post tax income, whereas doing it this way means the money then diverted to pension gets tax relief.
It would though rely on the self discipline to divert those freed up funds into pension over the next few years otherwise the pension pot ends up permanently depleted.

SomeMadeUpName

Just another thought for the OP:
If you remain in rented accommodation into retirement, have a state pension with only a small personal pension income on top then would you not qualify for local govt help with your rent?
If you move onto a boat, having paid too much tax by drawing down your pension pot too quickly then I doubt there will be any help available from the state to pay your mooring fees or upkeep.
A question for those who know more than me: Does any funds you have in a pension pot disqualify you from means tested benefit like housing allowance? So if you had £100k in a pension pot but no other savings then would they count you as having no savings, or £100k in savings. Also, what if you have already moved funds into a drawdown product, you then control how much income you get from that product each year, so do means tested bebefits get assessed on how much you DO drawdown, or how much you COULD drawdown? Sorry slight thread drift really.