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Husband wants to access a further drawdown from Royal Mail pension

Husband is current RM worker, 60 next month. He took a lump sum in 2018 at 55. He receives a small monthly pension. He now wants to access the rest of the pension pot and has been told that is not possible. He is not very money savvy and did not understand why.

Comments

  • wjr4
    wjr4 Posts: 1,339 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Is it a final salary pension? If yes, that’s why. 
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and should not be seen as financial advice.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 120,519 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    From your description, it sounds like your husband commenced the money purchase side of the Royal Mail pension.  i.e. didnt do drawdown but actually commenced the pension.     Hopefully, he was allowed to opt back in again otherwise that has wasted a lot of money.  

    The older Royal Mail pension is a defined benefit scheme and doesnt offer drawdown (not that he did drawdown on the other scheme).

    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • xylophone
    xylophone Posts: 45,829 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    He took a lump sum in 2018 at 55. He receives a small monthly pension.

    Do you mean that your husband chose to access his defined benefit pension?

    He was offered a tax free pension commencement lump sum and a monthly pension?

    This is now the position for the rest of his life.

    Presumably should he pre-decease you, there will be a widow's pension?

    Is he now a member of a defined contribution scheme?

    Has he checked on his state pension forecast?

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

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