Last minute indecision about taking defined benefits pension

cfw1994

Carefulspender1 said:

@dunstonh @p00hsticks @Marcon @Sarahspangles @molerat @Ordinary_Yet_Unique @cfw1994    I just want to say thank you to everyone who has replied here - I was having a real wobble about my decision and you have all set my mind at ease that I have already made the right decision. So thank you to all of you for taking time out of your day to answer my questions

I will add a “thanks for the thank you” - there are a lot of helpful folk on this forum who post considered replies, some very wise people: mine are but an opinion, but it is nice to feel they have perhaps helped someone, & even nicer to have that noted!

Enjoy your retirement 😎👍

Bostonerimus1

I think you made the right decision. I have a DB pension and the monthly cheque that doesn't depend on the stock market is very welcome. You need a well researched asset allocation and the commitment to manage your money carefully if you are going to do drawdown and that can be very difficult when markets are volatile.

Cobbler_tone

We’ve read this so many times and glad the OP got value from the replies.
I understand the mindset though. If you are working with figures of £160 a month vs £65k (if they were up to date) it takes a leap to get your head around it. Especially depending on your personal circumstances, which is probably the most important factor. Once you establish you can’t (easily) get your hands on anything other than the £160 a month it makes things easier.

Carefulspender1

Cobbler_tone said:

We’ve read this so many times and glad the OP got value from the replies.
I understand the mindset though. If you are working with figures of £160 a month vs £65k (if they were up to date) it takes a leap to get your head around it. Especially depending on your personal circumstances, which is probably the most important factor. Once you establish you can’t (easily) get your hands on anything other than the £160 a month it makes things easier.

Thank you for your comment Cobbler tone- yes it was looking at the amounts and thinking "why did I not take the money on a transfer" that made me have this wobble at the last minute. I have to say having slept on it I feel even more certain that I made the right decision, and that's down to the responses of the kind people on here. 😊

Carefulspender1

Bostonerimus1 said:

I think you made the right decision. I have a DB pension and the monthly cheque that doesn't depend on the stock market is very welcome. You need a well researched asset allocation and the commitment to manage your money carefully if you are going to do drawdown and that can be very difficult when markets are volatile.

Thanks Bostonerimus1, that's so true - I feel more comfortable at the idea of not having the stress of managing investments.

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

Carefulspender1 said:

Bostonerimus1 said:

I think you made the right decision. I have a DB pension and the monthly cheque that doesn't depend on the stock market is very welcome. You need a well researched asset allocation and the commitment to manage your money carefully if you are going to do drawdown and that can be very difficult when markets are volatile.

Thanks Bostonerimus1, that's so true - I feel more comfortable at the idea of not having the stress of managing investments.

This is so true. I am grateful that my DB pension will arrive monthly for the rest of my life and is also fully indexed linked. That plus my state pension and a small annuity means I can enjoy my retirement without being unduly worried about how to manage financially.

FIREDreamer

CETV are at multi year lows at the moment.

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

The above graph should further ease the mind of the OP. A sensible decision was made.

Mr_Benn

Sarahspangles said:

Remember you can pay £2,880 into a personal pension/SIPP even if you have no income and receive a tax relief top up of £720. It’s a way of boosting return on savings. If you draw it down in a year you’re not receiving enough income to use your personal allowance, you can draw it tax free.

 Excellent thread.  I have been undecided about taking my DB for a year, but think Im going down the same route asap. 

 I thought you werent supposed to pay any money you get from a pension, back into another pension fund to get another tax-free top-up ?  

MallyGirl

Mr_Benn said:

Sarahspangles said:

Remember you can pay £2,880 into a personal pension/SIPP even if you have no income and receive a tax relief top up of £720. It’s a way of boosting return on savings. If you draw it down in a year you’re not receiving enough income to use your personal allowance, you can draw it tax free.

 Excellent thread.  I have been undecided about taking my DB for a year, but think Im going down the same route asap. 

 Arent you not supposed to pay any money you get from a pension back into another pension fund to get another tax-free top-up ?  

Not pension recycling if under £7500