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."

[LeroysBoots]

"JFK, I too have a GSP, the most charismatic dog I've ever had. Is hysterical also !, such great companions"

[GBHammer63]

"I found my dad dead in bed at the ripe old age of 54, poor fucker brought up me and my sister by himself and grafted every day of his life, 38 years later he’s still my hero. In the words of The Specials Terry Hall, Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think."

[Wilko Johnson]

"Westside 12:59 Mon Mar 27 I've been looking at opening a new Cash ISA when the new financial year starts in April. Every month I currently pay into a S & S ISA. You mentioned that you can only pay into one type of ISA, I think! The Gov UK website states: 'You can put money into one of each kind of ISA each tax year' So, can you pay into a Cash Isa AND a S & S Isa in the same financial year?"

[BRANDED]

"At 55 he has a long time to go before an African is wiping his arse in a old person’s home. Oioi. I just cant trust a middleman managing my money for me. For example, I might prefer to own property which has not performed as well as the best stocks but much better than many. Much better than bonds."

[wd40]

Simple - take out what you can spend it on yourself or grand kids Or don't and just sit in a old people home with it paying the bill while get your bum cleaned every day by someone just off a boat and he will reply his never heard of Westham when you start a conversation about the hammers.

[bill green]

"Michael - there is a free 60 min consultation you can get here https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pension-wise do your sums beforehand - what are your outgoings how much do you need to live on per month your pension may be the old style defined benefit which is good they were more generous you can take these and still put some into a newer defined contribution pension for the future for those of you like me doing you sums on defined contribution schemes, also think about spreading the pot - so work out what you need 0-5 years 5-10 and 10 beyond. the 0-5 you put in low risk but the other stuff you can leave in to grow unlike the old annuities with their poor returns. worth taking advice on this as it your last big decision :)"

[oioi]

"BRANDED 11:00 Sun Mar 26 I've got both. Wise to spread it thin. A bit of risky investing, a bit of safe & a stable pension pot. It wasn't through careful planning, I was freelance most of my working life, just followed my accountants advice. Seems to be working out ok."

[Manuel]

"It's a minefield and simply depends on your own individual situation. My only advice is make sure you have nominated a beneficiary incase you get hit by a bus, they would receive your dough tax-free, which helps."

[Westside]

"I was thinking along the lines of a managed S&S ISA. Vangard have one that looks dirt cheap, fees-wise. Plus the usual savings ISA Nurse - in any tax year you can invest in one type of ISA, not both. No limit on transferring existing ISA's, from one provider, to another"

[Westside]

"I was thinking along the lines of a managed S&S ISA. Vangard have one that looks dirt cheap, fees-wise. Plus the usual savings ISA Nurse - in any tax year you can invest in one type of ISA, not both. No limit on transferring existing ISA's, from one provider, to another"

[Westside]

"So if you had £100K left in savings your estate would pay £40K tax leaving £60K for your nearest and dearest. If you left £100K in a pension fund they would get the full amount. Obviously rules could change by the time you snuff it. You have a £325k allowance before you pay any Inheritance Tax. If you are married, or in a civil partnership any unused £325k, transfers to the survivor. To say nothing of the spousal home allowance of £175k each. All assets left to your spouse/civil partner are free of IHT Can you retire with enough money to live the life you want? And don't budget for an equal annual pension to your estimated death (if you have that option). Spend more in the early years, while you are able to enjoy it more."

[jfk]

"I‚Äôve recently called it a day as I was becoming a moody selfish cսnt no amount of money was enough. It finally dawned on me you can‚Äôt buy time. Started to really enjoy myself finding true passions one of which is dogs,have a two year old GSP bitch (our second pointer)who comes from top hunting stock in Hampshire nothing I‚Äôd like more to breed her and keep a couple of bitches that in itself would keep me busy enough. It‚Äôs impossible to wear that out. Also looking to move somewhere rural after living near London all of my life . Two boys have moved on just our 15 year old daughter keeping us here."

[Nurse Ratched]

Ha! True.

[Bungo]

Nurse Ratched 10:43 Sun Mar 26 Sounds familiar. I try my best but I do struggle with many of the details. This is why I am convinced that finding the right expert is so important. Mine sent me a recommendation report recently about a proposed tweak to the portfolio. I try hard to read these but I would be lying if I claimed that I really understood the detail. I believe half the trick is at least appreciating the breadth of what we don't know.

[BRANDED]

"I dont have a pension. Never will. I’m keen on owning assets that go up in value and, possibly pay an income. You REALLY have to spend a lot of time on this otherwise some other middleman will rinse you."

[Nurse Ratched]

"Cool. I have two pensions (current employer, and one from a previous employer) in addition to the state pension, so I don't anticipate a retirement of complete grinding poverty, but I'm also thinking of squirreling away some savings by investing. I was thinking along the lines of a managed S&S ISA. Vangard have one that looks dirt cheap, fees-wise. Plus the usual savings ISA and maybe look at bonds. Crap interest rates now, compared to a splendid one I had in the early 90s. I genuinely have no bloody idea what I'm doing. Arf!"

[Britannia Pub]

"The are certain things to take into consideration if you are going to continue to work. There are limits as to how much you can pay into a pension if you’ve already crystallised a pension, the possibility of moving into an higher tax bracket, how long you need the pension to last, etc. an independent financial advisor (ifa) is definitely worth talking to."

[Bungo]

"Nurse Ratched 9:42 Sun Mar 26 Several consolidated pension pots, and some savings. He makes suggestions/recommendations now and then, some of which I understand. I then say 'yes' and it seems to have worked well so far."

[Helmut Shown]

"I was told by a senior manager that ""I had the wrong mind set as I had joined the company before 1970"" even though he had never met me before. It was more like that my pension would have been to expensive for the company if it went to full term. So I took redundancy at 48 and lived on my lump sum I got for my redundancy for a few months until I got another job in telecomms. I got a much better wage there plus my pension at 50. I went on some decent holidays and never looked back."

[Nurse Ratched]

"Bungo Do you mean you let 'your bloke' invest your pension, or your savings?"

[David L]

Yorkammer 8.56 - wait until fucking Labour get in....

[Bungo]

"I was lucky and managed to find a financial chap who is both honest and extremely knowledgeable. Before Putin sent the world tits up financially, he achieved an average growth of 17% p.a on my stuff for the previous 5 years. Finding a decent one would appear to be the trick. Mine was via a personal recommendation but beyond that I wouldn't claim to know how to sort the wheat from the chaff. Good luck!"

[Kaiser Zoso]

"If there is any way you can afford to reduce or eliminate work, take it"

[Yorkammer]

"Another consideration is inheritance tax. If there's any left over at the end and you have enough assets to attract inheritance tax, what's left in pension funds is not taxed. So if you had £100K left in savings your estate would pay £40K tax leaving £60K for your nearest and dearest. If you left £100K in a pension fund they would get the full amount. Obviously rules could change by the time you snuff it."

[Gary Strodders shank]

I took a lump from my old P&O pension when I hit 55 last year and now get around £300 a month which makes life a bit easier. I wasn't intending to unlock it but started to look into it over the lockdowns and decided I might as well do it.