ready to retire & need to know her to invest

jimboger1

hi all
im looking to retire at the end of 2026 
my current pension is with Scottish Widows and I'd like to invest what I have (around £500,000) to get around 5% growth and allow me flexible drawdowns 
thanks

eskbanker

What options do Scottish Widows offer you for managing, investing and drawing down your pot?

JoeCrystal

Umm, just to check, do you mean you want to invest £500k INTO a pension scheme or you got a pot of £500k sitting in your Scottish Widows pension scheme? What is wrong with the current investments in Scottish Widows, then?

Vitor

With £500k, a sustainable starting withdrawal is typically closer to 3–4 percent than 5 percent if you want the money to last, especially if markets fall early on.

dunstonh

my current pension is with Scottish Widows and I'd like to invest what I have (around £500,000) to get around 5% growth and allow me flexible drawdowns 

The only way to get around 5% is to buy an annuity.    
Investing you will give you years you are way above that, years when there is virtually no return and other years when you have losses.

So, you if you want to do, if annuity is not your choice, is have your portfolio set up with an appropriate strategy that covers those negative and nothing years.

However, depending on your SW pension product, that may not be possible.  (SW's SIPP can do it, but it's not that cost-effective.  SW's retirement account can do it, but it's dated and probably going to be put out to pasture soon. SW stakeholders and PPPs can't do it).    So, it may need to be changed to something a bit more modern.

jimboger1

eskbanker said:

What options do Scottish Widows offer you for managing, investing and drawing down your pot?

I'm having difficulty getting anyone with any knowledge to talk to tbh

jimboger1

JoeCrystal said:

Umm, just to check, do you mean you want to invest £500k INTO a pension scheme or you got a pot of £500k sitting in your Scottish Widows pension scheme? What is wrong with the current investments in Scottish Widows, then?

JoeCrystal said:

Umm, just to check, do you mean you want to invest £500k INTO a pension scheme or you got a pot of £500k sitting in your Scottish Widows pension scheme? What is wrong with the current investments in Scottish Widows, then?

I have a SW £500k pot but the performance hasn't been great 

jimboger1

Vitor said:

With £500k, a sustainable starting withdrawal is typically closer to 3–4 percent than 5 percent if you want the money to last, especially if markets fall early on.

really, I thought I could get more 

QrizB

jimboger1 said:

I have a SW £500k pot but the performance hasn't been great 

How is your £500k currently invested?

jimboger1

dunstonh said:

my current pension is with Scottish Widows and I'd like to invest what I have (around £500,000) to get around 5% growth and allow me flexible drawdowns 

The only way to get around 5% is to buy an annuity.    
Investing you will give you years you are way above that, years when there is virtually no return and other years when you have losses.

So, you if you want to do, if annuity is not your choice, is have your portfolio set up with an appropriate strategy that covers those negative and nothing years.

However, depending on your SW pension product, that may not be possible.  (SW's SIPP can do it, but it's not that cost-effective.  SW's retirement account can do it, but it's dated and probably going to be put out to pasture soon. SW stakeholders and PPPs can't do it).    So, it may need to be changed to something a bit more modern.

I find SW next to useless on giving any info tbh so maybe changing to something more modern is the answer - but where to start?

jimboger1

QrizB said:

jimboger1 said:

I have a SW £500k pot but the performance hasn't been great 

How is your £500k currently invested?

mainly inScottish Widows Pension Portfolio Four CS8