Pension Help Please

aintreejack1969

Hello All,
I am 53 and never thought about getting a pension.
I actually have the mindset that i am never going to retire.
The last 20 years I have been self employed electrician, there has been a change of circumstances and i find myself on my !!!!!!.

Now early next year i am fairly sure i will be working again, I want to start a pension.
I know I am getting some sort of pension from the army when i am 60, not much, i think they said i have about 4 grand in the pot, 
I worked for a company 20 years ago and i dont know if i had a pension with them, tried an initial phone call, hit a brick wall.
Now what i am asking, is there a company that  can tie all these together and sort it out for me? Like I say, I am brand new to all this pension stuff, any help would be most welcome...Thanks Jack

SouthCoastBoy

A couple of things, your army pension will most probably be a defined benefit pension, which means it is not a pot of money as such but a yearly amount, if it is around 4k per annum that is a good amount, especially when added to the state pension.

To find contact details of old pensions take a look here, https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details

aintreejack1969

Thanks southcoastboy. no its not 4k a year, i wish..
Its 4k full stop. I have made contact with them last year, and found that out.

Marcon

aintreejack1969 said:

Hello All,
I am 53 and never thought about getting a pension.
I actually have the mindset that i am never going to retire.
The last 20 years I have been self employed electrician, there has been a change of circumstances and i find myself on my !!!!!!.

Now early next year i am fairly sure i will be working again, I want to start a pension.
I know I am getting some sort of pension from the army when i am 60, not much, i think they said i have about 4 grand in the pot, 
I worked for a company 20 years ago and i dont know if i had a pension with them, tried an initial phone call, hit a brick wall.

Bit more info and someone here might be able to help. Being as precise as you can (given it was 20 years ago), what were your dates of employment/the name of your employer?

aintreejack1969 said:

Now what i am asking, is there a company that  can tie all these together and sort it out for me? Like I say, I am brand new to all this pension stuff, any help would be most welcome...Thanks Jack

An independent financial adviser is likely to be best placed to help, but before you go any further, try https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pensions-basics/midlife-review-for-self-employed-people for a free, impartial information session which will then put you in a better position to get the most out of the advice you will receive from an IFA (which obviously you'll need to pay for).

aintreejack1969

Thanks Marcon...
And I really need to familiarise myself with financial acronyms before i move on...

SouthCoastBoy

aintreejack1969 said:

Thanks southcoastboy. no its not 4k a year, i wish..
Its 4k full stop. I have made contact with them last year, and found that out.

How long were you in the army for, and was it the British Army?

NannaH

With a military pension you don’t have a ‘pot’, you have a deferred index linked pension and lump sum paid from 60,  have you had a forecast from Veterans UK? 

How long did you serve? 

My Husband did 12.5 years until 1996,  his pension form from back then said £2500 a year and £6500 lump sum, at 60 in 3 years it will go up by 30 years of CPI increases. 

aintreejack1969

British Army 5 years 1986 1991

xylophone

What exactly is shown on your State Pension Forecast?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

What is the COPE shown?

And do an SAR for full NI history.

 https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/shortforms/form/DPU_SAR_NI?_ga=2.230026460.1544670040.1621021753-1315656139.1609178084

SouthCoastBoy

aintreejack1969 said:

British Army 5 years 1986 1991

So I have just had a look at the British Army pension website, looks like you would have been in the AFPS75 pension scheme? If so it is a defined benefit pension, but you will also get a lump sum, the following is taken from the booklet.

"In addition to your annual pension, you will also receive a one-off pension lump sum (tax-free) of 3 times your annual pension"

is the 4k you were quoted your lump sum?

Silvertabby

SouthCoastBoy said:

aintreejack1969 said:

British Army 5 years 1986 1991

So I have just had a look at the British Army pension website, looks like you would have been in the AFPS75 pension scheme? If so it is a defined benefit pension, but you will also get a lump sum, the following is taken from the booklet.

"In addition to your annual pension, you will also receive a one-off pension lump sum (tax-free) of 3 times your annual pension"

is the 4k you were quoted your lump sum?

Noting that only service from age 18 counts as pensionable, this could well be a lump sum of £4K plus an annual pension of £1,333.