Pensions

Thatmanthatasks

Good afternoon all,
I have just finish work at 60 years of age and have managed to save £200,000 in ISA's and Savings Accounts and wondered what the best thing was to do to make it last me for the rest of my life?  Do I do what I am doing now or do I buy an annuity?  I am open to any suggestion?

xylophone

I have just finish work at 60 years of age 

With a pension?

Have you checked your state pension forecast?

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

managed to save £200,000 in ISA's and Savings Accounts 

Are you indicating that you now wish to use the income arising from these to supplement  pension income?

Albermarle

Thatmanthatasks said:

Good afternoon all,
I have just finish work at 60 years of age and have managed to save £200,000 in ISA's and Savings Accounts and wondered what the best thing was to do to make it last me for the rest of my life?  Do I do what I am doing now or do I buy an annuity?  I am open to any suggestion?

I think yiou need to supply a bit more detail.

Do you also have any kind of pension that you contributed to ?
When you say ISA's, do you mean cash ISA's ? Do you have £200K in cash, but no investments ?

dunstonh

Thatmanthatasks said:

Good afternoon all,
I have just finish work at 60 years of age and have managed to save £200,000 in ISA's and Savings Accounts and wondered what the best thing was to do to make it last me for the rest of my life?  Do I do what I am doing now or do I buy an annuity?  I am open to any suggestion?

That would require knowing what your spending plans are for the rest of your life.

Its unlikely you would buy an annuity with ISA and savings money but the pension tax wrapper is better than the ISA tax wrapper for most people.   With earned income in this tax year, you may be able to tax advantage of that to pay a larger amount into the pension wrapper before you drop down to just £3,600 a year.

Asking your question is often best years before you retire and not after as you lose the ability to utilise options that cease to be available to you but would have been better.

Thatmanthatasks

Thank you for all your posts.
I don't have any pensions I contribute to, I have a cash ISA and part of the £200K is part of that.  I am just worried that as the years go by my Savings Pot will go to nothing without doing something.  

dealyboy

... just to note ISAs are tax free on withdrawals, but standard annuities are taxable.

Why not just ensure your ISA is invested wisely and withdraw what you need when you want it.

One thought , If you were to take a part time job which paid no more than the personal tax allowance you could put that into a SIPP whereupon it would gain 25% tax relief, you could then take it all tax free. Once done, whilst working  you would be then be limited to SIPP contributions of the MPAA of £10,000 gross, or £3,600 gross if not working.

xylophone

I don't have any pensions I contribute to,

Have you never been a member of any pension scheme?

What does your state pension forecast show?

Albermarle

Thatmanthatasks said:

Thank you for all your posts.
I don't have any pensions I contribute to, I have a cash ISA and part of the £200K is part of that.  I am just worried that as the years go by my Savings Pot will go to nothing without doing something.  

With hindsight, at least some of your money should have been going into a pension to benefit from tax relief and the growth in investments within the pension.
However we are where we are.
Normally one big issue with cash savings is that the interest is not enough to keep up with inflation, and therefore you need to invest in stocks and shares to do this in the long term.
Probably the best thing you can do is look at investing part of the £200K rather than just holding it as cash, and be careful how much you withdraw each year. I guess the issue is how much/little you can live in between now and getting your state pension.
Is there any possibility of earning some money during this period?

Thatmanthatasks

I have been a member of some pension schemes but when I retired I cashed them all in because they didn't seem to be doing very well and I wanted control of the money.  I ended up with £200K which I am look to keep and grow but am not sure of the best way forward.

michaels

Thatmanthatasks said:

I have been a member of some pension schemes but when I retired I cashed them all in because they didn't seem to be doing very well and I wanted control of the money.  I ended up with £200K which I am look to keep and grow but am not sure of the best way forward.

We all thank you for paying voluntary tax.

You can still pay £2880 into a pension every year until you are 75 and immediately take out £3600, the extra coming form the govt but there is no obligation to do so.

Thatmanthatasks

My pleasure.
I wasn't aware I could pay in £2,880 per year in to a new pension, thank you.