how to drawdown investment savings

stillEuropean

I have about 150000£ spread over investments at H&L, Charles Stanley, and TD in Canada. I'm 71 and don't yet need this money but I would like to know how to access it when I do. Do I have to sell some portion of these investments every month/quarter to obtain the cash? Do I have to keep track of the 25% I can take tax free? Or is it preferable to sell enough at one time to obtain an annuity?  If so, how do I decide which investments to sell and which to keep?
I'd appreciate any advice on this as I really don't understand the ins and outs of making a wise decision.

Ayr_Rage

Are these investments in a pension scheme?

That is the only vessel that could allow a 25% tax free withdrawal.

It sounds as if you need professional advice as to what you actually have and where it is invested.

Linton

There are three main options to accessing money from your investments.  This is just a very high level overview:

1) Buy an annuity which gives you a guaranteed fixed income for the rest of your life , possibly increasing with inflation. At 71, for £100K you could get about  £9K/year fixed or about £6500/year subsequently increasing with inflation, paid monthly.  The downsides are that you have spent £100K and that once you have bought the annuity you cannot change anything - it is very inflexible.

2) Sell investments as and when you want.  You could do it monthly but it would be less hassle to just do it annually. The downsides are the need to manage your investments (eg decide which ones to sell)  and also the danger that in a crash you may have to sell the investments you need to provide future growth.

3) Buy funds that generate a regular income from dividends and interest.  5-6% is readily achievable.  The downsides are that the income will probably not increase with inflation and that you need to choose the right investments and manage them in the long term.

Which one is best depends very much on your needs, your circumstances, and your understanding of investing. An annuity may well be best if you need a steady income, dont mind selling a large % of your investments, and dont feel you have the knowledge to manage them.

If the money is in pensions rather than an S&S ISA life is rather more complex because you have to take account of tax and the need for any taxable payment to be run through a payroll system which means you may not be able to do anything quickly. On the other hand taking dividends/interest is very simple in a ISA as you can ask the provider to pay them directly into your linked bank account as soon as they are paid, plus of course it is all tax free.

On the 25% you cannot access any taxable money before you take the corresponding 25%.  So for example you could take all the 25% in one go and then all subsequent withdrawals would be taxable or perhaps take £2.5K tax free and £7.5K taxable as a one-off withdrawal, or anything in between.  Your pension provider will keep track of how much tax free remains available for you.

poseidon1

Maybe sensible to review OP's post back in 2023 (below) which seems to indicate bulk of monies are in ISAs together  with a small ( unspecified) entitlement to a Canadian pension

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6427103/do-i-need-a-sipp#latest

Response to his current question would suggest convert his isa's to income producing funds and arrange for income to be paid out to him as it arises.

As for the Canadian pension entitlement, it appears whatever enquiries that should have been made arising from another post below,  may not have been resolved-

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6433850/international-tax-advice#latest