Final salary pension advice

HIA

I have stopped working and need pensions advice but don't think pensionwise will speak to me since my two pensions are both final salary, 32 years USS and 4 years SPPA. I have an idea to live of savings for a few years till closer to 65 then take pensions but need to confirm this option. Both schemes give me models but I'm still confused.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

What are you confused by?

Do you have any DC pension funds at all that you could use?

How many years until you are 65?

Have you checked your State Pension forecast on gov.uk to see what additional years you are likely to need to pay to get the standard new State Pension?  It is important you read the full forecast to see what you have actually accrued to 5 April 2021.

And no, you don't deduct the COPE amount from your forecast.

HIA

No DC funds, I'm 57 and yes I've checked my state pension and need to pay another £2k to top it up which I intend to do. I need help to work out if delaying taking my pensions for up to seven years is financially worthwhile compared to the reduction if I take them now. Of course it all depends on if I live to see 65 and how long I live after which I have no way of knowing but no reason to think not.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Well irrespective of what you do with the DB pensions one thing appears to be a sure fire winner for you.  Shame you didn't do this in previous tax years as you could potentially have got a lot of money out without paying tax on it (having got tax relief on the way in).

Set up a personal pension or SIPP and contribute £2,880 each tax year.  This will become £3,600 with the basic rate tax relief added.  Depending on what other pension income you end up with you could have a £720 profit each year if you take it out as income (£900 TFLS and £2,700 taxable income).

You really need to provide a bit more info re the DB pensions and how much you need to live on each year.  And what each DB pension will pay, lump sums (if any), actuarial reduction factors etc.

Albermarle

HIA said:

No DC funds, I'm 57 and yes I've checked my state pension and need to pay another £2k to top it up which I intend to do. I need help to work out if delaying taking my pensions for up to seven years is financially worthwhile compared to the reduction if I take them now. Of course it all depends on if I live to see 65 and how long I live after which I have know way of knowing but no reason to think not.

It depends to some extent to how much the DB pension is reduced for every year you take it early . 4 to 5% is typical .
At 4% of course it looks a bit better to take it early than at 5%

Generally people seem to be more pessimistic about how long they will live , compared to the actual statistics.
If you are late Fifties now , then on average you should live until you are 83/84. So that means you have a 50% chance of living longer than that , especially if you are reasonably healthy , have no really bad habits and have money .

HIA

This is exactly why I want to speak to someone in person about my pensions but since pension wise is not available to me where can I go, I have read on hear you have to have a certain level to invest before an IFA is interested. Where do I start looking for a sipp?

SMcGill

I seem to recall that for pre-2011 service an ERF is only payable if you retire before 63.5 years of age. Something like that. Have you read this? Might be worth asking the scheme administrators.

https://www.uss.co.uk/-/media/project/ussmainsite/files/financial-advisers/mfuss-for-ifa.pdf?rev=e83c6925f0d54db9aa15251679cc5626

theoretica

Are/were you a union member?  Some have useful resources.

HIA

Thanks but not been a union member since 2011. I think I'll try making an appointment with a local IFA.

Albermarle

HIA said:

This is exactly why I want to speak to someone in person about my pensions but since pension wise is not available to me where can I go, I have read on hear you have to have a certain level to invest before an IFA is interested. Where do I start looking for a sipp?

Not fully sure what you mean here .
You have two DB pensions , so you have nothing to invest anyway .
So why need an IFA or look for a SIPP ?

HIA

I want advice on whether it is better to live off my savings or take my pension now and invest the savings. I didn't know about the benefits of a sipp before this post for example.