Pre retirement advice

Littleowl007

I will be 66 years old next year and will receive my full state pension in May.
My wife is 58 and has a DB pension which she could take now but is hoping to retire in 2027  which at the moment will pay £12500.00 a year or £9500.00 plus £63000.00 lump sum.She now works for the NHS and has done for 10 years so will not be able to to get pension until she's 67.
I have an old GA pension of £50000 and a SIPP of £58000.
In savings we have 2 cash isas one with £59000 and the other £57500.1 Stocks and Shares isa with £25000 a High interest savings acc with £25000,Shares worth £37000.Gold worth around £15000.
Bank acc including savings acc £16000.
We also both have the maximum £100000 in premium bonds.
My idea is to top up my Sipp and stocks and shares isa with funds from the premium bonds.
Looking at not taking my Sipp for a few years yet,Im a self employed tradesman who can work part time the odd day etc.
Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated.

Albermarle

Normally in your position, you should have more money in investments than cash, as in the long term you will very likely be missing out on growth.
You actually have more in cash than investments, so that would be one area to look at.
Also ideally investments should be in diversified funds, not individual shares as that is rather risky.

Littleowl007

Yes I would like to invest more if I could but with the £20000 limit on Isas I will have to do this over coming years.
At my age is it really a good thing to put more in my pension?

squirrelpie

I would consider moving anything not already in a tax shelter into one. i.e. move surplus cash in bank/savings account, high interest account, shares, gold into whichever of ISA allowance and pension allowance you have available. I would do this before considering removing money from premium bonds (I assume you mean you have a total of £100,00 there, not £100,000 each). Whether you keep premium bonds is basically how much you think of it as fun and how much as an [poor] investment.

Albermarle

Littleowl007 said:

Yes I would like to invest more if I could but with the £20000 limit on Isas I will have to do this over coming years.
At my age is it really a good thing to put more in my pension?

A pension is just another way of investing but with tax benefits, so you can certainly add more to it as well to a S&S isA
You are restricted to what you can add by how much gross earnings you have.

QrizB

Littleowl007 said:

At my age is it really a good thing to put more in my pension?

The years leading up to retirement are a good time to move as much of your savings and investments as possible into your pension. You'll gain from the tax relief and will be able to access them when you start drawing your pension.

If I was planning to retire soon, I'd be shovelling assets into my pension as fast as I could.

cloud_dog

QrizB said:

Littleowl007 said:

At my age is it really a good thing to put more in my pension?

The years leading up to retirement are a good time to move as much of your savings and investments as possible into your pension. You'll gain from the tax relief and will be able to access them when you start drawing your pension.

If I was planning to retire soon, I'd be shovelling assets into my pension as fast as I could.

@Littleowl007 as approached retirement I actually liquidated ISA money to help maximise deposits into our pensions.

Obviously you need to consider your circumstances and monetary utilisation etc, but it gave our pots a little bump of free money.

dunstonh

Littleowl007 said:

Yes I would like to invest more if I could but with the £20000 limit on Isas I will have to do this over coming years.
At my age is it really a good thing to put more in my pension?

Pension wrapper is better than the ISA wrapper.   Yet you have no qualms about using the ISA wrapper.

Littleowl007

Thank you all for your comments looks like I will be adding to my pension.
My Sipp is with Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index Fund.

Albermarle

Littleowl007 said:

Thank you all for your comments looks like I will be adding to my pension.
My Sipp is with Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index Fund.

Just remember as you wind down, and your  earnings maybe decrease . Then you will be restricted as to what you can add to a pension. 

dojuls

You're in a pretty solid position overall. Topping up the SIPP and ISAs from the premium bonds sounds like a sensible move, especially if you're not planning to touch the SIPP yet. Maybe consider seeing an IFA just to check you're drawing down in the most tax-efficient way. And part-time work can be a good buffer too.