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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…
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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.…
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Good (and short!) explanation of COPE
There are lots of queries about COPE cropping up regularly. This is one of the better, not to mention shorter, explanations I could find which might help: https://www.wypf.org.uk/pensioner/all-about-my-pension/contracted-out-pension-equivalent-cope-amount/
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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.
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New board for state pension top-up / Future Pension Centre / voluntary NICs questions
Hi all Regulars on this board will well know how many threads we've seen in recent months about Future Pension Centre-related questions. As a result of a great suggestion from a Forumite (passed on by a Forum Ambassador) we've created a new sub-board for all these types of threads: ➡️ Topping up your state pension ⬅️ If…
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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 me know): * Can I cash in my pension? * Early-retirement wannabe * It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!! 📝 And here's some…
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Sipp starting one late
Hope a poster can clarify for me. Background. Feel quite fortunate. Retired with employer FS pension income and nearly full state pension. Basic rate tax payer. This year will be able to fully top up ISA and a Savings account to get max tax free interest from them. Plenty of pension headroom so not going to reach the…
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Surrender meaning
Friend got thus recently, hasn't a clue what it means and asked me. Could someone explain? Dies it mean taking a lower amount, and in return he MAY get a higher yearly increase in the future? I'm guessing on the off-chance we get a massive inflation year?
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AVC nightmare
I was given a AVC by HSBC as a result of the pension mis-selling in 1994. As I was already in the NHS pension scheme, I did nothing with this. Now that I no longer work I want to cash in the AVC as it’s a small amount and will only give me a £2 (yes, £2) a month pension. My Problem is that… I cannot find anywhere how to…
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Teachers' Pension Scheme: Rollback Choices (Faster Accrual)
Is anyone good enough to offer some analysis? Not financial advice, but observations that might be useful to anyone in the pension schemes impacted by the McCloud and Sargeant cases, and who opted for Faster Accrual (FA) or similar flexibilities. Quite a few of these letters must just have gone out to teachers, and there…
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True potential issues
Hi guys I have left true potential I have just recently received my last years annual fees and charges statement. Flick back to 2022/23 the portfolio lost around 13% they still added a performance fee. when I queried this they stated that the fee was because some of the fund have a performance fee of 0.10% attached to them…
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Tax question regarding accessing 100% of SIPP in one go
I have about 50K in a SIPP. I would like to use it all in one go, to contribute towards moving home. (Sell my flat, and buy a house.) I understand that 25% of the SIPP is tax free. I am currently only on tax free DWP benefits (not working atm), and so I am hoping that I can get a further £12,570 of it tax free? Is this…
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Care home fee annuity versus pension annuity?
Talking to someone who is thinking of buying a care home fee annuity for an elderly relative using the proceeds from the sale of his previous residence, I am left puzzled as to the difference between a care home fee annuity and any other annuity such as that from a pension. Why are there apparently only 4 providers of care…
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Small Pension Pot
I have a small 2nd pension pot worth £5500. This is standalone form my main pension fund. I have not yet taken any taxable pension payment, only a small portion of my tax free allowance. I am retired and aim to earn less than £12570 this tax year. Can i take the 5500 tax free if i stay under £12570? Are there other…
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Anyone cashed in a NEST pension?
Hi, I'm over 55 and have just £1,000 in a NEST pension for a job I diid over 5 years ago. This is not my main pension and I would like to cash it in and close the account to pay for a holiday. Have to say the process was straightforward on their website and have provided the bank statement they asked for. However, there…
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State Pension Different Rates
Just a quicky everyone. I have received my state pension forecast which is approx £221/week and that this is the max I can receive. I have full contributions. However, a couple of friends of mine of similar age have a forecast of approx £253/week. I thought the difference was because I was opted out of SERPS back in the…
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Gilt Ladder building tool questions
A while ago on a thread someone (apologies I am not sure who) posted a page with a tool that someone developed to select a gilt ladder. https://lategenxer.streamlit.app/Gilt_Ladder Can anyone who knows about Gilt ladders comment on whether the data this is using is current as the help page for this tool seems to be empty?…
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FIRE Girls Pension Diary - Aim High & Dream Big
10 year targets are set and I'm aiming high and dreaming big. :) A bit of background. When I was young I grew up with a family of 4 children, Dad worked and Mum stayed at home. We had very little material things or new clothes and I remember I was always dreaming of how I could possibly become a millionaire. So why not…
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Willis Towers Watson - Lloyds - HBOS Final Salary Pension Scheme
I have a pension held by the above. It is a old work pension with the Bank of Scotland who transferred it to Lloyds. It is under the HBOS Final Salary Pension Scheme I turm 55 in October and would like to take 25% in cash, the pension pot has a value of £104k. I have asked Lloyds by email if I can take the 25% but can…
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State Pension Amount - More Than Anticipated
Hi all. I regularly see the state pension amount quoted in the media as £221.20 per week or £11,060 per annum. I'm registered on the HMRC website. I logged in and checked what I can expect when I reach 66 in September 2025. The amount is £13,923 per annum which is more than I see headlined. That is what I would get if I…
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Best way to buy a house
55 later this year, currently employed earning 42k a year, job safe. Have no real savings as such, have circa 500k in a few sipps, currently got about 1100 going into workplace pension per month most of which paid by employer. Always rented, been paying child support for a long time, just ended. Lot of decisions to make…
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finding an IFA for Pensions health check - info already consolidated - cost ?
Hi I have searched the internet, reviewed the guide on this website for finding an IFA, tried to use "free goverment services" but.. it still seem arduous for what appears to be a health check/comparison of my existing pensions for a fixed one off fee. In short, I am not looking to transfer out, look for new products, just…
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Maximum annual pension contribution (annual allowance?) for tax relief purposes
I'm looking to make a one-off contribution to my DC pension pot. I understand that the maximum that tax relief can be claimed on is £60,000 or your annual income (whichever is lower). Is that correct? And how is annual income calculated? Does it include savings interest? Example: Let's say that my salary for the 24/25 tax…
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USS pension - what has been updated in the income builder?
Looks like the USS income builder (DB) has been updated recently. I have more in it that I had last time I logged in. But I can't tell what has updated? Is this just the adjustment to correct the valuation error of the last few years? Or does it include anything else? The date still says 31st March 2023. Hard to tell…
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DB tax free lump sum - a spanner in the works!
I’ve been quiet on here for a couple of years. We have various pensions, I have a pension withdrawal strategy, and everything has been ticking along relatively nicely, but a spanner has just been thrown in the works! My husband is already retired, but will be 65 later this year and will be taking his DB pension from an old…
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USS - growth fund
I started with the USS investment builder in 2016. My main aim was to preserve child benefit by
being under the income threshold and also get
some additional pension. I put the funds,
plus employer contribution to DC, in USS growth fund which was marked as high
risk, but potential high return and seemed an easy choice.…