Taking your pension at 55 advice please.

[michael]

"Been at the same company for 35 years.Manual job,back and hips are in poor shape.55 now may be able to take a small lump sum to take off the mortgage.And a pension that would enable me to go to a 4day week.Spoken to a couple of financial advisors,all they have done is tried to flog me something.Any advice welcome also the usual abuse I’ll take."

[COOL HAND LUKE]

moneyhelper/pensionwise provides free advice for anyone thinking of taking their defined benefit pension early. You don't have to pay.

[New Jersey]

"If it's a private pension and it's over £30,000 and has a Guaranteed Annuity Rate then you are legally required to get financial advice. Fucking annoying as my Mrs had to pay over £700 when she already knew what she was doing with the money, cunts!"

[Gaffer58]

"From what I understand if your pension value is over £30k then you have to take advice or use a financial advisor to move it, but due to the mis advice that some people were given, quite a few steelworkers involved, then a lot of advisors aren’t interested as they could be sued at a later date. And as said earlier if it’s a defined pension then most advisors would tell you to leave where it is."

[zico]

"I have a pension from back in the 90's, and old style one. Found out there was 50k in it, unfortunately to withdraw more than 30k as a lump sum I had to speak to a financial advisor before the company would even think about handing it over and FA fees plus tax I found was a bit pointless. So I've decided in June to take the tax free lump sum option of just over 10k and get around £1.500 a year which at around £100 a month it's nothing really but will be a hundred quid towards the energy bills if nothing else., To benefit from the 50k I will have to live until around 93 which won't happen but it was such a hassle as it's an old style pension."

[Westside]

"you can withdraw 25% each year tax free. You can't. The 25% is the total you can take tax free. From a £500k pot, you can't take 25% (£125k) in year one, then £93.75k in year 2 and so on."

[PwoperNaughtyButNot]

"Just to be clear If you have a defined benefit scheme then leave it where it is. Whoever administers if will bite your hand off if you move it. Other pensions, if you have them all over the show then someone like Pensionbee is good, you can also use vanguard and anyone else who offers a SIPP and transfer at will. You don’t need to prove financial advice has been given. It’s your money"

[TJD]

You do not have to speak to a financial advisor. I moved all my 8 or 9 pensions into PensionBee and wished I had done it a lot earlier. you can withdraw 25% each year tax free. Up to you to weigh up the financials.

[Jasnik]

OK so what would they need these companies to let you have the money to prove you spoken to an advisor.

[lincslink]

No from an independent firm

[Jasnik]

these financial advisors do they have to be with the company you got your pension with as I got them spread out all over the place so don't want to speak to 5 different ones for 5 x cost?

[lincslink]

You have to have advice from a pension specialist or the company won’t release the funds.

[Nurse Ratched]

I know it well. Lovely area to live. I spent my early adulthood in Teignmouth.

[VirginiaHam]

Find a proper financial adviser.

[lincslink]

Rusta The financial firm I took the advice from transferred it so went easy. Once it was transferred I binned them as they wanted to manage it for an annual fee. Mine is in Royal London who very helpful.

[Rusta]

lincslink Who did you transfer it to and was it straight forward process?

[lincslink]

Torbay

[Nurse Ratched]

"What part of Devon, lincs?"

[Nurse Ratched]

"What part of Devon, lincs?"

[lincslink]

"I took mine at 55 from National Grid, I had to have financial advice and transferred it to one of the big few. That was 5 years ago now and it allows draw down and you can also leave what’s left in a will, which company pensions don’t allow. I moved to South Devon and enjoying life to the full."

[Mike Oxsaw]

"When I took redundancy from BT, part of the package was meetings with financial advisors regarding my pension. They were paying so I saw 3 who each offered me a range of options. As I hadn't yet firmed up my future and being an autistic geek, I spent a few months running simulations (on an old 286 PC) for each package for whatever ""future"" for myself I could envisage. In the end I settled on working abroad and transferring the pension to a private company with a top-up option (that I never used). It performed well enough for me and my needs - could probably have got a little more had I put (even) more effort into it but as it met my (not someone else's) needs/requirements I didn't see the point in giving it any more of my time - especially as I was about to join the jet set..."

[Rusta]

Just found out my pension doesn't allow draw downs which is really annoying because I was going to take a lump sum this year on my 55th birthday and leave some in there to take yearly Seems I have to transfer it to another pension fund to do this I know literally fcuk all about all this and thought this was gonna be all straight forward

[Westside]

"And whilst not McDonalds and Apple, it's not Enron, Lehman Brothers or BHS"

[BRANDED]

After inflation and costs you might have made 1% a year.

[Westside]

"Anyway its not Apple or Microsoft or Experian or McDonalds is it? Certainly not, but a decent well above inflation return, isn't to be sneezed at."

[BRANDED]

"Westside 2001 6,930.2 I should have been more specific. Anyway its not Apple or Microsoft or Experian or McDonalds is it?"