Do I really need an IFA to draw my pension?

quantum

I'm 62 and out of work, so not a tax payer. I have been having trouble finding some part time work and have been using up my savings to make up the shortfall in expenses. 
Been thinking maybe I ought to start drawing my pension. I have two separate ones with a value of about £200k.
I'm very clueless about pensions and just presumed it would be straightforward to cash them in. However someone I know who used to be an IFA said I ought to get advice from an IFA listed on Unbiased as they would be able to help re tax purposes.
Is it really necessary?

DRS1

Drawing a pension is not the same as cashing it in.

Why don't you talk to the pension providers about what you can do with the pensions.

kempiejon

If you're out of work and spending your savings are you in receipt of any applicable benefit payments?
If you have access to a pension that you are not using then perhaps you have been missing out on the personal allowance when drawing a pensions? 
If that's the case you are not necessarilly maximising your tax position - it doesn't sound like you are using the optinum system. But so what, that mgiht not matter. Talking to a professoinal might highlight what you could be doing better. If you've missed a couple of years of tax free personal allowance it could have already cost you hundreds of potential tax free income.

Brie

I would certainly suggest you check what benefits you might get before you do anything with your pension.  Given that benefits can be income dependent then you will have those reduced if you get pension money.  

You might want to have a look at entitled to.

Benefits Calculator - entitledto - independent | accurate | reliable

Once you know what you might be eligible for you can then go on to consider your pensions.  And getting advice is a good idea.  There is a heck of a lot to consider with pensions - I used to work in pension admin and there's tons I don't know a thing about.  If nothing else check out pensionwise for some free general information on pensions.

Marcon

quantum said:

I'm 62 and out of work, so not a tax payer. I have been having trouble finding some part time work and have been using up my savings to make up the shortfall in expenses. 
Been thinking maybe I ought to start drawing my pension. I have two separate ones with a value of about £200k.
I'm very clueless about pensions and just presumed it would be straightforward to cash them in. However someone I know who used to be an IFA said I ought to get advice from an IFA listed on Unbiased as they would be able to help re tax purposes.
Is it really necessary?

Depends how confident you are in terms of the decisions you are making.

If you decide you do need an IFA, Unbiased might not be the best source of finding one. See https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6572520/a-not-fully-independent-financial-adviser/p1 especially dunstonh's post of 3 December. 

dunstonh

However someone I know who used to be an IFA said I ought to get advice from an IFA listed on Unbiased as they would be able to help re tax purposes.
Is it really necessary?

No its not necessary.  However, if you don't know what you are doing, you could make a costly mistake.  For example, your reference to cashing in the pension would be a costly mistake.  DIY well and it may save you money. DIY badly and it can cost you more.

Unbiased is no longer an IFA directory.  It has mostly FAs and salesforces nowadays.

tacpot12

I would recommend getting an appointment with PensionWise: Pension Wise: free pension guidance | MoneyHelper

It's free, and you will understand more about what your options are, and how to go about exercising them. 

If you do need an IFA for some reason, ask your friends and relatives if they know of one. If no-one you know can recommend one, call a few local IFAs and ask if they can arrange for you to talk to a recent client that has had pension advice from them. The good ones will be able to find someone you can talk to ask how they found the service, and what questions they wished they had asked. 

This forum is also a great resource. If you are happy to post more details about what sort of pensions oyu have, who they are with, and other information, you might get a confirmation that you need "Pension Transfer Advice" which is a specialised form of financial advice that requires the advisors to have special qualifications. Such advisors will also have professional indemnity insurance that covers them giving that sort of advice. 

Bostonerimus1

If you understand the basics of investing, taxation and sustainable withdrawal rates then you might well not need an IFA. You can either educate yourself or pay for assistance.

hotncold47

Regarding getting advice from friends and relatives I would just point out they may have no idea if their financial advice is good value or not.

Today in my local area someone has asked on F/B for recommendations for Pension advice, the 22 comments are mostly for a True Potential recently changed from IFA but some family members still involved. The remainder are for 2 FA/salespersons connected to SJP.

My comment advising using a local IFA using whole of market and avoiding tied FA has been met with deafing silence. LOL.

I even added a Citywire article showing the 8% incentive for retiring IFA to move to TP.

Cobbler_tone

Is a good IFA only like a good plumber these days? i.e. only by recommendation?!
I keep seeing where not to get one but rarely a recommended source to fish for one.

dunstonh

Today in my local area someone has asked on F/B for recommendations for Pension advice, the 22 comments are mostly for a True Potential recently changed from IFA but some family members still involved. The remainder are for 2 FA/salespersons connected to SJP.

Sounds like our local facebook community group.  Always SJP, and funnily enough, it seems every family member of the SJP reps seem to put recommendations without disclosing their links.

Is a good IFA only like a good plumber these days? i.e. only by recommendation?!
I keep seeing where not to get one but rarely a recommended source to fish for one.

The independent IFAs are typically small firms of 1-5 advisers.   They tend to have very little footprint on the web and often do not advertise as they don't need to.   So, they are not as visual as the salesforces, nationals and regionals who have large advertising budgets.