Pensions

[Bannon]

I am now getting near to the time when I can access my albeit small company pension fund which, as an 'ex employee', is being looked after  by a private accountant.

Question: is it possible (or indeed advisable) to transfer these funds into my state pension pot, or is it best to leave it where it is until I'm 65. My main concern I suppose is that what little there is of it might degrade, decline....or even disappear.

The accountant does not feel inclined to advise me - which is understandable, and I'm not getting replies to my email enquiries to the government pension site.

Thanks guys.

 

[Bugsy]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2461923,00.html

Read this, and then decide.

Personally I wouldn't give Brown the drippings off my nose. (sorry)

[cooperlola]

And God forbid, you might die!  Sorry, but this is what swung it for me - I took mine at 50. 

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

Take the money & run! I also took my company pension at 50.

Yes, I'd have had a bigger monthly pay packet at 65 if I'd left it to accumulate, but look at it this way: if leaving the pension untouched till you're 65 means that the monthly payout will double (ignoring inflation increases) you still need to live to 80 (not likely given my family history) to break even.

You can decide whether to save or spend the income, but either way you can make it fit your lifestyle. The only problem is that the income is taxed but for me it's still preferable.

[Bannon]

Thanks guys, and for the Times web link. I did not realise that only 30 years was needed for the full state pension - which is really what generated my enquiry. I thought I'd need to make a shortfall up. Also, I was also under the impression that I could only release part of my private pension fund into cash and that the rest had to be re-invested. Hmm

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

I don't know the details of your pension arrangements, but mine is a company pension from a very big company. Because I took voluntary redundancy I could opt to take the pension at 50, including getting some of it as a lump sum.

I know that the rules on personal pension schemes are different and that they have changed recently. Moving to France may have an effect as well, because the rule about buying an annuity probably can't be enforced if you are domiciled abroad. (Maybe. I think. Seems likely....)

There's also the 30 year qualification change that (I believe) is still to be confirmed.

[cooperlola]

Certainly with my own company pension, I was able to ask them for a variety of pension projections, playing various tunes on lump sums vs actual pension/different dates I could retire etc.  They are really in thebest position to do this and I'm sure they'll help you in this way if you approach them.  But course as Albert says, this varies.  Beware of taking lump sums once you are resident here though as it has serious tax implications.

[tel]

"I did not realise that only 30 years was needed for the full state pension - which is really what generated my enquiry. I thought I'd need to make a shortfall up"

I think you have misread the article,  30 years is proposed for the future.  At present it is 39 years for a Woman and 44 years for a Man for a full State Pension  at the ages of 60 and 65 respectively.

Regards

[cooperlola]

Take a look at

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/747499/ShowPost.aspx

And just a little update on this.  Having cancelled the direct debit for my OH's contributions following the letter I mention, we then got a letter asking why we had done so?  The OH 'phoned the revenue who said "oh yes, sorry, the second letter was sent out automatically.  You did the right thing in cancelling it as you can always pay in arrears if this turns out to be neccessary."  (NB you need to read the whole of the above thread to get this - it's not a long one.)