-
Success Stories - Pensions
This is a bit of a light topic where the idea is to highlight what successes you had with your pension pots. Example - I contributed X and accumulated Y by Z year. Total appreciation was 'x' percent. Just trying to learn the following that could inspire a range of people - those with no pension, those who started late etc.…
-
Pensions Planning: The NUMBER
The NUMBER is how much income you need to "live comfortably" So What's your number? Very important for pensions planning, to know what you are aiming for. My Number? (for a couple) I calculated: £22,000 based on Food £5,000 Car/transport £5,000 Bills/Utilities £4,500 Holidays/Leisure £4,500 Clothing/Cash/Xmas/Other £2,000…
-
Acronyms etc..
Hello to all. As a fairly new forum user I would appreciate someone posting a key to the acronyms and arcane terms used when discussing pension issues. Thank you in advance.
-
Pensions, Annuities & Retirement Planning Sticky
Welcome to the new Pensions, Annuities and Retirement Planning sticky! 👋 📖 Here are some Forum threads you may find useful (if there are any you think have been missed, please do let us know): * Can I cash in my pension? * Early-retirement wannabe * It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!! 📝 And here's some…
-
Pension to savings ratio
I'm hopefully thinking of retiring in 2-3 yrs time. Will be around 65 at that time. For a years, I've been able to both save in Isa's & contribute to my pension (sipp) Self employed sole trader, if it helps. Lower rate tax payer. I'm a bit unsure which to contribute to more. Atm I have around 130k in pension & 110k in…
-
Income tax when inheriting pension
Hi, new here so hope I’ve posted in right category. My mom sadly passed away aged 65 (under the 75 threshold) the pension company are ready to release the funds but have strongly advised seeking financial advice before taking it as a lump sum due to income tax. However financial advice seems to be pricey. After hours of…
-
National Insurance and Not working
Hi if I have paid up my NI (to date) I mean no shortfalls to the present day and I decided not to work again ever and not taking any benefits, and my official retirement date is not for another 9 years, my question is will I still have a full paid up NI or will I have 9 years shortfall? Thanks in advance
-
Advice for Aviva Pension
Hi, I have an Avival Personal Pension Plan that I've had since 1989 so it's the old style plan with limited retiremnet options. I'm 64 and my pot is around £140000 so not that great and would give a low annuity. I'm interested in drawdown as I work for myself and am happy to contunue working part time. Any advice on…
-
High risk, high reward: A pauper's dream of early retirement.
As regulars on this forum will know, I am trying to retire early while working part time, with a current salary of about £21.5K. Five years ago (after the loss of a loved one) I started to take my life and my finances a bit more seriously. I was 43 at the time, with a combined pension and ISA of £73.5k. I decided to make…
-
what percentage of equity do you hold in your retirement pension ?
https://global.morningstar.com/en-gb/personal-finance/how-make-your-money-last-retirement i know some posters on here say they have 100% equity , and 60:40 seemed to be most common, but this gives food for thought , for once retired , if your exposure should be lower Mick
-
I Used ChatGPT to Predict the Inflation Rate
I saw the government's prediction for future inflation rates today: which I found to be laughable. It seems that wherever it is now, they think it will head rapidly to 2% then stay there. I asked ChatGPT to take the same graph and make a prediction. Here is the result: Slightly different… Though perhaps even more unlikely…
-
IHT on Pension Pots after April 2027
What are the implications for Inheritance Tax of leaving part of your pension pot(s) to someone other than your spouse or civil partner? For example: A married man or woman has a £400K pension pot and dies before their partner. As I understand it, if the entire pot was left to their spouse, IHT would automatically transfer…
-
Defined benefit pension 1987-1995 GMP element
I have this modest pension I’ve been getting for 3 years now. I recently found an old “deferred pension certificate” that I think suggests I should be getting a larger payout than I am (by about 30%). I cannot pretend I properly understand it and have requested details of calculations from the provider, which I now have.…
-
sovereign wealth funds
There is always lots of talk about the success of the Norway sovereign wealth fund. Could the UK government start one with the view to reducing national debt or starting to cover the rising state pension costs? Or have we missed the boat?
-
Cash buffer dilemma
afternoon all , #i have often read that on retirement you should have a cash buffer within your "portfolio" so can ride out any market crash when you may need to access cash instead for say, 2 years. My query is as follows.. My wife has just retired her overall pot came to £400k (albeit high share prices at moment), it is…
-
Ex-Employer Fails to Pay Contributions
My ex employer has failed to transfer mine & my ex colleagues pension contributions to the Pension provider since December 2025. I know the pension company has reported him to the Pension Regulator. Is this theft? I can’t possibly be the only person this has happened to. What action can I take against him?
-
Index linked gilts and index linked annuities: are you moving money into them, yea or nay?
There has been a dramatic switch around in the real redemption yields on index-linked gilts recently (see my chart at end of post). The return above inflation available for an index-linked gilt bought today if held to maturity is for example around 1.5%pa for the 2048 maturity, compared with around minus 2.5%pa back in…
-
Pension or ISA
We are able to put more money into out private pension pot monthly. Is it better to put into the pension or ISA? Planning to retire in next 5 years.
-
Pension Scammers Target People Who Want To Avoid IHT
Putting this here just in case although I suspect none of the regulars here would fall for it. As with all IHT, the only ways to avoid it are impoverish yourself, risk running out of money, convert cash to income, or trust your offspring.…
-
Utmost Life and Pensions unknown pension balance
My wife received a letter from Utmost life and pensions saying that she has an unclaimed pension of about £6K. It seems to be for AVC contributions but she says she never made any AVC contributions. The letter does mention "National Health Service Pension Scheme Personal Pension - Residual Fund". I believe that at some…
-
New Capita-run Civil Service Pension Scheme - problems (what a surprise!)
So, Capita have taken over the admin for the CSPS and their new website and members portal went live this week. I have just registered on the new portal and am not in the least bit surprised to find that the information available on the new portal is very scant and incorrect in terms of my length of service. With…
-
NI gap years 2025
I telephoned the DWP in March 2025 to register my interest in buying 5 full and 1 part years NI gaps after seeing Martin Lewis' programme. Despite a couple of telephone reminders when I was assured I would be contacted and subsequent letter dated 22/09/25 acknowledging that I had contacted DWP on 25 Mar 2025 I have not…
-
how easy is it to open a SIPP and use carry forward allowance?
currently I’m putting around 40k a year into my workplace pension. previous years more like 35k. I have a 43k in a cash ISA that I don’t need for at least 3 years, and even then not all of it. that would be after our planned retirement date. so I’m considering whether to try and push it into a SIPP. 25% boost from HMRC,…
-
Should I Delay Buying Gilt Ladder
I was intending to setup a 5 year index linked Gilt Ladder in the next couple of weeks with the first year maturing in 2035. The money is currently sitting in a Money market fund. With the strong possibility now of rising inflation and interest rates would there be any benefit in delaying the purchase? My feeling is for…
Got questions about boosting your state pension by checking your record with the Future Pension Centre and making voluntary National Insurance contributions?
748 discussions
6.5K comments
Most recent: NI years are now full, existing OAP, when should I expect my monthly payments to reflect this? by molerat
12 May at 5:13PM
