Author Topic: Pension ideas  (Read 6042 times)

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Offline suehugh

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Re: Pension ideas
« Reply #10 on: March 01, 2015, 18:23:48 PM »
Thanks
You shouldn't be amazed at what people ask for on CBF. The forum is made up of a diverse range if people from all walks of life and a wealth of experience in everything.
I would gues the demographic of members includes a majority of soon to be, or actual pensioners with actual experience of annuities. Indeed this thread revealed qualified practitioners in the art. And I have taken their advice.
We have also used this forum for know how on how to purchase property,  to procure all sorts of services and to avoid a lot of pitfalls others have encountered .
Your further advice was appreciated
Hugh



Offline nichola

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Re: Pension ideas
« Reply #11 on: March 07, 2015, 05:31:10 AM »
Thought you might be interested in this Which "Pension Wise Explained" guide that you can download or read online.

http://www.which.co.uk/documents/pdf/pension-wise-brochure-for-campaign-supporters-397375.pdf

Also... there is a Which petition to sign if you are concerned about any of the following.

"Pension pots could be at risk from poor value products and high charges.

Government pension reforms are set to give people more flexibility and control over their retirement savings. Over 55s will be able to access their pension savings as they wish and will not need to buy an annuity. For many these are welcome changes, but we want additional safeguards put in place so that all retirees can be confident they’ll get a fair deal.

Apart from the risk of scams, people could also be caught out in a pensions minefield of poor value products and high charges. The track record of the banks and financial services industry in this area is not good.

Which? research found that many pensions drawdown products contain charges that can vary wildly. For example, on one product we found that someone with a £36,000 pension pot could receive £10,000 less due to high charges. We think that your hard earned money should stay in your pocket, not end up lining the pockets of big companies.

We want to make sure that everyone who saves into a pension all their working life is able to enjoy a secure retirement."

This is the link to the petition

http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/better-pensions/?utm_source=whichcouk&utm_medium=email&utm_content=endCTA&utm_campaign=pensionlaunch_seg4_060315

Offline stoop

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Re: Pension ideas
« Reply #12 on: March 07, 2015, 13:52:02 PM »
Its always difficult to advise on the best way forward with pension pots. Every person has different needs at different times of their lives.

To give you an example - me:

I took ill health reitrement at 50 and got various options with my company pension. The rules had changed and I got offered a lump sum of about £66,000 which was very tempting and my 'advisers' head told me to take it and invest it. However my real life experience of people who had done this made me realise it wasnt for me. Many of them had either dipped into their lump sum or seen their investments lose money.

I was also offered the option of taking 66% of the basic State Pension with the proviso that they would take back 100% of the basic sate pension when I started receiving it (now a year later than it was back then).

So the options made me think. I took advice for my work mates and every one of them advised me to take the lump sum (all qualified advisers).

In the end I went for the maximum pension plus the 66% of my state pension (basing that bit on the fact that I might not live to retirement age and also the fact that the money would be more useful whilst we were young enough to enjoy it).

Anyway - 10 years on I don't regret it one bit. I now have a pension that has grown pretty well through the RPI indexing it comes with and when I eventually receive my State Pension I know I will lose the basic part but will still have a small increase due to any SERPS or additional pension I have paid in.

Now to my latest problem. I got made redundant the other week and decided that as I'm coming up to 60 it might be a good time to retire fully. I'm in the postion of having a personal pension worth around £50K and what I think what's right for me now is to leave it until next year and then start drawing from it (up to my tax free allowance). This should virtually replace my part-time wages until I reach retirement.

I looked at annuities and they will just not pay enough. If I want them to increase they will start much lower and basically at least 50% of it will die with me (if i set it up that way).

So it really is horses for courses and what your gut feeling is regarding taking lump sums, annuties or whatever.

Good luck making your decision.

ps - Colwyn - I'm not 100% certain but I'm pretty sure even with the new rules you cannot take the whole of the fund tax free. I'm sure someone will confirm that for me  :)





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