Anybody on here good with financial advice?

I today requested a pension withdawal from my pension holders, I withdrew 25% of my full pension in 2012, today I requested a full withdrawal, only to be told that because at the time I signed to say I an annuity to be paid monthly, I cannot touch my pension.

They are holding up to 25.000, and pay me 36.00 per month, is there anybody with the expertise on here able to offer advice?.

Thanks in advance if you can, if you can't please don't comment in here.

See Angry Dad.

I have always wondered what would happen when people withdrew their pensions early and then in retirement they run out of money, I guess they would have to work for the rest of their lives or go on benefits?

Sorry Martin, not a pop at you mate just don't understand why the government have allowed this?

I'm obviously missing something!

You've backed the wrong horse, Martin.

Your fucked you cannot touch the rest of it (yet).

You cant touch it... I cancelled mine as im not going to get it until i will (hopefully) as been retired for many years. 

Everybody thinks im stupid not having a pension anymore, id rather invest the money myself though and  grow it how I want too and have it when I choose. 

Pensions are a big con. 

Plus, if everything goes pear-shaped again, our lovely government will steal it.

I didn't think you could take anything out of your pension until you're 55?

Could someone explain.

There are two types of pensions DB (Defined Benefit) Your company final salary pension.(Gold Plated)
You can take this from age 55. you are given a full salary quote at age 65. if you go early you are penalised at approx 6/8 % for every year. so if you went at 60 you would lose say 30-40% of your final pot. you can also take an option to take 25% tax free but again this reduces your pension because it costs about approx 4k per annum for say a 50k Lump sum.

or DC (Defined Contribution) This is a pot of cash that you pay into and your employer contributes, from age 55 you can retire either by buying an annuity once locked into this it's a done deal a monthly pay check for life. or you can again take 25% tax free leaving the balance in the pot and enter Draw down this means you draw a monthly/annual salary out of your pot this is taxed if over your annual allowance. BUT this pot needs to last all your remaining life so you need to be shrewd in the amount draw down, the pot remains invested in the stock market.

So the DB scheme is a guaranteed salary for life. whilst the DC pot is at the risk of the stock markets.

The main difference is with the DB salary scheme the risk is with the employer, whilst with the DC pot the risk is with you. That's just a basic outline.

This is news because Osborne changed the rules this year before you bought an annuity now you can enter draw down OR take the Full pot but face a massive tax bill. The changes only apply to DC schemes .

So if you have a final salary scheme you can only access the pot by getting a transfer value and changing to another DC provider BUT you lose the protection and a guaranteed salary. complicated  subject i have only scratched the surface.[/b]

Just as an aside the average pension pot in the UK is only about 30K this means the vast majority of people will face living off the state pension plus a very small top up from a private pension. Scary really.

My advice, if your not in a pension start one, if you are be aware of the level you contribute and make a plan to increase throughout your life. we all ignore pensions because we don't understand them or we can't afford them. watch your pot it's your future salary?

One day it will hit you how important this is usually from 55 i am 61 and it's Judgement day for me.
Dont leave it to late !!!

Can you explain like "if you put two mars bars a month away and your employer contributes a kit kat chunky, when you retire you'll get a box of ferrero roche. But if you take out a cadburys fudge at 55 you'll only get a Terrys chocolate orange at 65."

Reebok_Rebel wrote:You cant touch it... I cancelled mine as im not going to get it until i will (hopefully) as been retired for many years. 

Everybody thinks im stupid not having a pension anymore, id rather invest the money myself though and  grow it how I want too and have it when I choose. 

Pensions are a big con. 

Plus, if everything goes pear-shaped again, our lovely government will steal it.

You can defer a pension if you change jobs your contributions are deferred this means they stay in the pension until you are old enough to access them dependant on the rules of the scheme,usually a deferred pension grows with inflation so that it's still worth having at 65. Nothing wrong with DIY pension as long as you actually do it, you have to keep your eye on the ball if not making regular contributions.

Johnny boy trust me at age 32 it may sound like bollocks but at 62 you will be counting your cadbury's fingers just like the rest. lol

It's a really complicated business is pension provision. For most people it is SO far off that for many years it is irrelevant to them - but when it does become important to them the money that you have to invest THEN to get a decent pension is simply too much to put to one side.

Obviously a great deal depends on the circumstances people find themselves in.

I've been fortunate in that for a large chunk of my working life I've been in a local government pension scheme which is guaranteed.  My employer over those years has been contributing into it as I have.

If someone is starting out on their careers and can get into such a pension scheme - then they should do it.

The problems come though when you can't get into such schemes - many employers now don't do them as basically as their former employees live longer, it costs them more and more each year to pay for them and for all the new people who become retired too.

If I found myself in such a position I think I would go another way to invest for my future.

I think I would save up the best I could and buy a house, and over the years buy a better one and keep doing the same as long as I could.

When it came to retirement - and the kids have sorted out their own lives hopefully - I would down size home to live in and buy another property or more to rent.  The rent money thus becoming my 'pension' income in effect - you still keeping your capital in the homes you own.

Yes, there are risks, and no it is not a guaranteed plan but it is achievable for many of us if we have the mind and commitment to do it over much of our working years.

I gave up on pensions years ago when I kept hearing about how little people were actually getting back when they retired.

Ours is all in ISA's which is ok to a point, but you have to keep shifting your money round every year to get a decent deal because if you leave it where it is, the rate drops.

For example, we had one ISA with the TSB and when the annual statement came, we'd only accrued 17 quid interest on a five grand pot.

Fucking laughable.

Obviously it all depends on the circumstances you find yourself in but ISA's were designed to encourage savings and since the banking system nearly collapsed about 5 years ago, the interest on any forms of savings have been very poor.

You probably would have got a better return putting your money in Premium Bonds over the last few years.

A bit more of a 'gamble' I know but if all you are going to get is £17 from a £5,000 investment per year, then the worst you lose is £17 if you change to Pemium Bonds and if you only win once on them, the minimum you get is £25. You also have exactly the same chance of winning it for every month - so your chances are probably higher of a better return at the moment with Premium Bonds!

I'm going to buy another 5000 Goldline numbers.

Because there's absolutely no way that's a con and all the winners' names you see on the flyers you get from your agent every week are made up......honest.

BWFC would never run glorified ponzi scheme and rip the fans off..........

Only ever won ten quid on Goldline.
Why do so many winners live in Hartlepool? 
My pension pot is still in the hands of Victor Chandler. He doesn't seem to want to loosen his grip.

Breadman wrote:I'm going to buy another 5000 Goldline numbers.

Because there's absolutely no way that's a con and all the winners' names you see on the flyers you get from your agent every week are made up......honest.

BWFC would never run glorified ponzi scheme and rip the fans off..........

Same here twenty years in Goldline £10 2 years ago ?

Breadman wrote:I gave up on pensions years ago when I kept hearing about how little people were actually getting back when they retired.

Ours is all in ISA's which is ok to a point, but you have to keep shifting your money round every year to get a decent deal because if you leave it where it is, the rate drops.

For example, we had one ISA with the TSB and when the annual statement came, we'd only accrued 17 quid interest on a five grand pot.

Fucking laughable.

I will look at stocks and shares ISa's when i take my lump sum.
But the main point with a pension is Employer contribution. My employer pays 15% into my pot each month you just can't match that on your own.