Finding a fee-based IFA

BarbaraG2000

There have been some really helpful comments and questions on here, thank you.  Here is a plan of action - what do you think?

1) Check out whether our personal pension providers are ones which are happy to deal with the public or not;

2) Get up to date statements of benefits from each of our DB schemes, at a range of ages - so we know what secure income we could potentially have at various points, also spouse’s pensions, as that forms part of the calculation of what we want from other sources.

3) Arrange a conversation with the portfolio manager and get his thoughts.

4) Uprate my knowledge about lifetime allowances, tax rules, the £2,880 etc, so I understand the implications of putting a pension into payment - or not.

5) Have a think about any major capital spends we want to budget for.

6) Armed with all the above information, make a decision about entering drawdown.

leosayer

Hi Barbara, the only thing I would add to your plan is to create a spreadsheet with a year-by-year plan of your income needs and how they will be fulfilled (or not) based on what you learn from your statements.

When I did the same, it became clear to me that starting my DB scheme early was the prudent thing to do even though I had enough DC/SIPP and ISA savings to 'bridge the gap'. Of course, you may arrive at a different conclusion.

Pat38493

Regarding point 2, also make sure you understand what figure is being provided if you are asking for future pension estimates.

I am not sure if all DB schemes do it the same, but on mine they seem to add 2.5%/year inflation estimate to future dated predictions so you are not getting a "real terms" number.

Albermarle

Pat38493 said:

Regarding point 2, also make sure you understand what figure is being provided if you are asking for future pension estimates.

I am not sure if all DB schemes do it the same, but on mine they seem to add 2.5%/year inflation estimate to future dated predictions so you are not getting a "real terms" number.

OP , In addition to this comment, I think generally that DB schemes are not very good at setting out lots of future options to think about. On top of that the response time/customer service  from some DB pension administrators is truly abysmal. 
So maybe you will have to work more with estimates.

BarbaraG2000

leosayer said:

Hi Barbara, the only thing I would add to your plan is to create a spreadsheet with a year-by-year plan of your income needs and how they will be fulfilled (or not) based on what you learn from your statements.

When I did the same, it became clear to me that starting my DB scheme early was the prudent thing to do even though I had enough DC/SIPP and ISA savings to 'bridge the gap'. Of course, you may arrive at a different conclusion.

I did do this about 3 years ago, would need to update with current estimates. I only used NRA for each scheme, though - using different ages is a tweak I had not previously considered, but now will.

What made it clear that taking your DB’s early was the prudent thing to do?

BarbaraG2000

@Albermarle mentioned that some providers only or mainly work with IFA’s - do you know if that includes Royal London and Aviva? That’s who we are with at the moment.

Albermarle

BarbaraG2000 said:

@Albermarle mentioned that some providers only or mainly work with IFA’s - do you know if that includes Royal London and Aviva? That’s who we are with at the moment.

I am not 100% sure but I think to set up a new pension with RL it has to be via an advisor, but you then can have access and make changes. A sort of hybrid model.
Aviva always had a part that only dealt with advisors, but they also had an active retail side as well. I think ( again not 100% sure ) they are asking new customers to go via an advisor, but existing customers do not have to do this.

The problem with many pension providers, and Aviva is a good example, is that they have been  formed from many mergers and acquisitions. So they do not have a one size fits all for their existing pensions, which often operate with different rules, flexibilities etc.

BarbaraG2000

@Albermarle to put it another way - are there any providers who actively embrace working directly with customers?

zagfles

BarbaraG2000 said:

@Albermarle to put it another way - are there any providers who actively embrace working directly with customers?

Yes there are loads. If you want a SIPP provider have a look at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/cheap-sipps/ and https://www.comparefundplatforms.com

I think they all offer "investment pathways" for drawdown if you don't want to choose your own investments, or you could use the likes of Pension Bee or a robo advisor (there's a few mentioned in the MSE link).

LHW99

Albermarle said:

Pat38493 said:

Regarding point 2, also make sure you understand what figure is being provided if you are asking for future pension estimates.

I am not sure if all DB schemes do it the same, but on mine they seem to add 2.5%/year inflation estimate to future dated predictions so you are not getting a "real terms" number.

OP , In addition to this comment, I think generally that DB schemes are not very good at setting out lots of future options to think about. On top of that the response time/customer service  from some DB pension administrators is truly abysmal. 
So maybe you will have to work more with estimates.

Worth checking if your DB schemes have a website, as some will offer a calculator for you to put in date of leaving years of service etc, and will provide an estimate, probably only at NRA, which is at least a start.

The pension booklet may then give a guide as to typical % reductions for taking it early (not always the same amount each year.)