Getting financial advice from Pension Wise

gm0

It is scripted.  It doesn't solve for your situation. It explains the options and associated jargon.  Rules questions.  Which is a good but limited thing.  Some of us have advisers.  Some can't get one easily with a small pot. 

But you can't drag them far into edge cases or rules complexities before it breaks and becomes dependent on who is on the phone.  I am a bit unconvinced the briefing packs were that good when I did it. Hopefully they do incrementally improve them.

It's free at point of use help that comes via talk not reading.  From someone not selling you anything.
So mostly harmless.

Whether the situation in pensions law should have been created in the first place where it was necessary to create an advice service to explain pensions access options to consumers is a whole different conversation about meddling and more complexity being added again and again.

The FCA have gone this route for good reason. And have pushed the providers to signpost it in wake up packs and by asking questions when you go into drawdown so they can force the providers to collect statistics for them in regular contact.  The constant reorganisation and rebranding of government communications around money advice is deeply counterproductive, even risible.   Last I looked they had created a new brand again - having just about raised awareness of PensionWise to the point that people had started to notice it existed.  Mainly via provider nudging under regulatory orders (FCA COB)

dunstonh

I think pensionwise is a good idea for those with small values.  With those, you are more limited in what you can do and the basic guidence is more likely to be the right thing.

However, I often find, that dealing with new clients after they have had a pensionwise meeting, I have to undo some of what they have taken in from pensionwise.   Mainly in cases where there will be multiple wrappers or where phasing is more suitable.  ie. not taking the 25% up front or where you are funding the gap until state pension or DB pension kicks in.

Outeast1000

Pat38493 said:

Outeast1000 said:

I will be claiming my pension pot  from Aiva which will i guess be just under 10k before tax is deducted in less than one year , I have been asked do i intend to get financial advice from pension wise before i make a claim 

My question is what is the benefit of getting advice from pension wise on claiming my pension pot ?

Just to be crystal clear on what you mean, you are saying that the entire size of your pension pot is £10K, or that you are expecting an income of £10K per year from it?

The entire size of my pension pot will be near £10k

Malthusian

Outeast1000 said:

On another note why does a session with pension wise last 1h ?  which for me is a long time 

Not really. Actual advice on drawing money out of a pension would usually involve a good few hours on your end (far more on the adviser's end) of discussing your financial situation with the adviser, follow up phone calls, reading and replying to emails, filling in questionnaires, etc etc...
How long it would take is a "how long a piece of string" question but the fact that a PensionWise appointment only lasts maximum one hour should give you an idea of how limited its scope is.

arnoldy said: 

When I went to Pensionwise it was very much Ladybird 1a type stuff - Janet and John. 

Why have Janet and John books have been bought in huge numbers for decades?
1. Because there are a lot of 4-5 year olds who have just started to learn to read, and who will be intimidated if they see more than a dozen words per page.
2. It's a conspiracy to drain money from the taxpayer and line the pockets of Ladybird and jobbing illustrators. The books are incredibly tedious and a waste of time. I am not a four year old therefore they don't exist. 

cfw1994

dunstonh said:

I think pensionwise is a good idea for those with small values.  With those, you are more limited in what you can do and the basic guidence is more likely to be the right thing.

However, I often find, that dealing with new clients after they have had a pensionwise meeting, I have to undo some of what they have taken in from pensionwise.   Mainly in cases where there will be multiple wrappers or where phasing is more suitable.  ie. not taking the 25% up front or where you are funding the gap until state pension or DB pension kicks in.

I bet that is because their chat with PW is their first serious thought about their pension, & they are not necessarily taking in what they are told.   MANY people struggle to understand some of the basic about finances, never mind the tricky topic of pensions!    At least these boards help to clarify things.

OP - I would suggest you learn as much as you can BEFORE your meeting with PensionWise - they are, as some say, basic meetings, but if you at least understand what you are *asking*, then you will likely get a better response to understand from them!

Qyburn

In my case Pension Wise were the first people to mention drawdown as an option. At that time both my private and workplace pension providers mentioned only annuities in there "what you might get" forecasts.

Outeast1000

dunstonh said:

I have been asked do i intend to get financial advice from pension wise before i make a claim 

I doubt that is what you were asked as they do not give advice.   Its more likely they have asked if you have sought guidance from pensionwise (and they often ask if you have had advice from an IFA)

My question is what is the benefit of getting advice from pension wise on claiming my pension pot ?

Probably none as the guidance wont tell you what is best for you to do or if other options are better.   It may point out certain pitfalls which you may or may not be aware of.

It may point out certain pitfalls such as ?

Malthusian

Qyburn said:

In my case Pension Wise were the first people to mention drawdown as an option. At that time both my private and workplace pension providers mentioned only annuities in there "what you might get" forecasts.

I'd be a little surprised if they didn't mention drawdown somewhere in a Janet and John guide to "what happens when you want to take your pension".
But in the "what you might get" forecasts they have to use annuities because that is the rules.
During the zero interest rate era, there were occasional grumblings about how these illustrations were producing ludicrously low forecasts (as not only do they assume annuities, but inflation-linked annuities, which almost nobody buys), and maybe they should take into account the option of drawdown instead. But it never came to anything. The only purpose those forecasts serve is to try and make people go "aaarrrgghhh! i need to put more in my pension!"
Anything that involves a lengthy explanation and caveat along the lines "if you drew 4% per year via drawdown, you might get this, but also your fund might run out, so you should have at least some years of income in cash, but on the other hand..." is far too complicated for the purpose of a statutory illustration.

zagfles

cfw1994 said:

dunstonh said:

I think pensionwise is a good idea for those with small values.  With those, you are more limited in what you can do and the basic guidence is more likely to be the right thing.

However, I often find, that dealing with new clients after they have had a pensionwise meeting, I have to undo some of what they have taken in from pensionwise.   Mainly in cases where there will be multiple wrappers or where phasing is more suitable.  ie. not taking the 25% up front or where you are funding the gap until state pension or DB pension kicks in.

I bet that is because their chat with PW is their first serious thought about their pension, & they are not necessarily taking in what they are told.   MANY people struggle to understand some of the basic about finances, never mind the tricky topic of pensions!    At least these boards help to clarify things.

OP - I would suggest you learn as much as you can BEFORE your meeting with PensionWise - they are, as some say, basic meetings, but if you at least understand what you are *asking*, then you will likely get a better response to understand from them!

Yes, and for a lot of people they are perfectly capable of understanding pensions etc, it's just they've never bothered, and pensionwise can give them a good starting point. I pointed someone at pensionwise who knew nothing about pensions a year ago and from those basics, the "Janet and John" stuff, and a lot of research, he now understands pensions (or at least the aspects that affect his pension) as well as me, and certainly better than most IFAs.

Qyburn

Malthusian said:

Qyburn said:

In my case Pension Wise were the first people to mention drawdown as an option. At that time both my private and workplace pension providers mentioned only annuities in there "what you might get" forecasts.

I'd be a little surprised if they didn't mention drawdown somewhere in a Janet and John guide to "what happens when you want to take your pension".
 other hand..." is far too complicated for the purpose of a statutory illustration.

Definitely no mention of drawdown from Aviva, although there was a hint in 2019 statement that annuity might not be the only option. Not a very helpful hint.
"We’ve shown below what you could get if you chose an income for the rest of your life. It’s important to remember there are a number of other choices for you at retirement and the choices you make may affect the amount you receive"