Take 25% tax free lump sum before budget?

Lowtrawler

GDB2222 said:

dunstonh said:

Does it make sense to take the 25% tax free lump sums from these before the budget - just in case?

Every budget since 1988 has seen the media speculate the the 25% TFC is being removed.

One of the insurers is Standard Life, does anyone know whether they offer a reasonable drawdown product?  I'd prefer to get it all in one place - just to make life easier - and I think Standard Life makes reasonable sense. 

The modern Standard Life is not the same company as the original Standard Life.   The modern one is Phoenix trading as Standard  Life.    The old Standard Life, now called Aberdeen, has better pension products.

So, if I took my pensions out 25 years ago, am I with Phoenix, or Aberdeen? 

The 3 companies were Clerical Medical, Scottish Mutual, and Standard Life. Have they all ended up with Phoenix, then?

Just remembered I also have a small Sun Life policy. It's definitely time to consolidate it all into one place, before my mind goes entirely!

 

Sun Life, Scottish Mutual and Standard Life are all part of Phoenix. Clerical Medical is part of Lloyds

dunstonh

Sun Life, Scottish Mutual and Standard Life are all part of Phoenix.

Although AXA Sun Life (operating out of Bristol) saw pensions move to Aviva.   There was also Sun Life Financial of Canada that was often abbreviated to just Sun Life and that went to Phoenix.

DRS1

GDB2222 said:

dunstonh said:

Does it make sense to take the 25% tax free lump sums from these before the budget - just in case?

Every budget since 1988 has seen the media speculate the the 25% TFC is being removed.

One of the insurers is Standard Life, does anyone know whether they offer a reasonable drawdown product?  I'd prefer to get it all in one place - just to make life easier - and I think Standard Life makes reasonable sense. 

The modern Standard Life is not the same company as the original Standard Life.   The modern one is Phoenix trading as Standard  Life.    The old Standard Life, now called Aberdeen, has better pension products.

So, if I took my pensions out 25 years ago, am I with Phoenix, or Aberdeen? 

The 3 companies were Clerical Medical, Scottish Mutual, and Standard Life. Have they all ended up with Phoenix, then?

Just remembered I also have a small Sun Life policy. It's definitely time to consolidate it all into one place, before my mind goes entirely!

 

No idea how small the Sun Life policy is but there are "small pots" rules for pensions under £10k which can be useful (eg the lump sum not counting against the Lump Sum Allowance - if that is of any relevance to you)

Here is a SL page on small pots Your small pots questions: answered | Standard Life

westv

MeteredOut said:

Lowtrawler said:

westv said:

Urgent! !!!
Best to take it out tomorrow morning! Rumours of a mini budget on Friday where the 25% will be gone by the weekend!!!!

Hopefully most regular visitors here will recognise this as a sarcastic and humorous comment. However, I fear there are a great many people who might think the comment is serious and go into panic mode.

I'm not so sure it was meant to be humorous. That sort of sentence is the exact sentiment that can be found across social media platforms. If it was meant as a joke, it's a dangerous one, as we've seen on these boards this year how people will and do believe what they read online, often with negative financial impact.

😂😂...............

Mark_d

GDB2222 said:

I have unit linked pensions with 3 insurance companies. Does it make sense to take the 25% tax free lump sums from these before the budget - just in case? If I do, I'm not sure what to do with the remaining 75%?  I'm between 70 and 75.

I'm not very interested in managing the investments, but I'm not sure I want an annuity.

One of the insurers is Standard Life, does anyone know whether they offer a reasonable drawdown product?  I'd prefer to get it all in one place - just to make life easier - and I think Standard Life makes reasonable sense. 

Can I draw the 25% from the other companies, and then transfer the remaining 75% to Standard Life, or do I have to do the transfer before taking the lump sum?

Thanks. It's a while since I had to think about this sort of thing.

It doesn't make sense to take the 25% tax free lump sum based on speculation.  If this provision was to change then I expect it would only apply to new pension arrangements - so most/all of us here would not be affected.

It should be possible to transfer all your pensions to a SIPP provider who offers drawdown.  You could get financial advise to ensure the funds selected are appropriate.

LHW99

If this provision was to change then I expect it would only apply to new pension arrangements - so most/all of us here would not be affected.

I doubt it would happen, but my feeling if it was reduced, it could apply to any current DC pension. Possibly by fiddling with the % lifetime allowance calculation.

Unlikely to be retrospective, certainly, and IMO unlikely in any form.

GDB2222

dunstonh said:

Sun Life, Scottish Mutual and Standard Life are all part of Phoenix.

Although AXA Sun Life (operating out of Bristol) saw pensions move to Aviva.   There was also Sun Life Financial of Canada that was often abbreviated to just Sun Life and that went to Phoenix.

That makes sense. I have an Aviva pension that I don't recall taking out with them.

LHW99

dunstonh said:

Sun Life, Scottish Mutual and Standard Life are all part of Phoenix.

Although AXA Sun Life (operating out of Bristol) saw pensions move to Aviva.   There was also Sun Life Financial of Canada that was often abbreviated to just Sun Life and that went to Phoenix.

..... and the picts living in brackets? .........