Practicalities of buying annuity at retirement

hildasmuriel

I can find pages and pages of advice on what to buy and how to compare but not much on the actual practicalities of stopping work and getting your money.

Let's say a person is working and paying into their company's DC pension and has decided they want to also get their pension from that pension provider. Also they are planning to leave work on 30 September. This means that they will still be paying into that pension right up until 30 September when their final salary is paid.

Obviously they don't want to leave it until 30 September to start arranging their pension. They want it all in place in plenty of time.

Can they do that while still paying in?

How will the quote be accurate if they still have a few months salary to be paid in?

Marcon

hildasmuriel said:

I can find pages and pages of advice on what to buy and how to compare but not much on the actual practicalities of stopping work and getting your money.

Let's say a person is working and paying into their company's DC pension and has decided they want to also get their pension from that pension provider. Also they are planning to leave work on 30 September. This means that they will still be paying into that pension right up until 30 September when their final salary is paid.

Obviously they don't want to leave it until 30 September to start arranging their pension. They want it all in place in plenty of time.

Can they do that while still paying in?

How will the quote be accurate if they still have a few months salary to be paid in?

You need to start liaising with the pension provider/administrator to ensure you know what to expect - and what is expected of you. 

For some schemes, they won't pay out until your employer has confirmed you have left the scheme and/or left service, which won't be until after that has actually happened. 

Any quotes will be just that: a quote until you get to the actual point of taking your funds out. Quite apart from any contributions you'll make between now and the end of September, the fund value is likely to fluctuate depending on how the underlying funds are performing.

hildasmuriel

Right, thanks.

I was really hoping that everything could be set up in advance. Waiting for HR to do their job ........eeek.