55 in March though I wish I was three years younger, every cloud

you can access a private pension anytime after 50 .

I can wait another three months

Bito, they really won't appreciate your attempts to make then  focus on Their later/incontinent/reliant/days, But, hey How, you did your best.

I'm now 53 and have 2 years left before I can draw on my own. A few years ago I transferred my final salary scheme, which suited me in my situation; it also allows me to take full advantage of the new pension rules, which final salary schemes do not.

Be warned though; anyone thinking of doing the same should take good independent advice first, as this doesn't suit everyone.

mecca


if you cant take it for 3 years and you worried about a crash - crystallise it into a cash fund for the duration

if interest rates are due to rise next year [usa next week ] and once they start the trend will be upwards for a while,and as pensions are only trying to make you 4% on your money, isnt it advisable if your not working for whatever reason to take any 25% tax free available and empty your pension upto your tax free allowance every year and put it into long term isa,s whose rates should be rising from next year,
i could be this situation no work ,but a bit of savings and pension,would you be better emptying your pension or spending your savings and leaving your pension till savings run out,if your not working how do you inform your pension companies not to pay tax on any drawdowns,is their a yearly time lag on this,
another thought if your savings are 40 grand would it be better to putr this into your pension to get the tax relief before starting to drawdown on it,
questions,questions,usual rule of thumb on money matters do the opposite to me, ,

I think on drawdowns they take the tax off to give to the inland revenue, its your responsibility to claim the tax back if your under the  tax threshold.

yanks next week we wont be far behind, early next year,
yep pumphol theres some no tax form from the tax office to fill in,just wondered if you could get the form and sort of pr empt any loss of tax,say people of pension age with maybe 8 grand state pension and a private pension dont have to claim their tax back every year, or do they

cheers

^^^ correct! - Don't worry about tax; if you owe them they will charge you interest and if they owe you, they will pay you interest.

With regards to the interest rate rises it is quite clear that USA are looking to increase their base rate this month and although we always appear to follow suit, this may not happen as quickly as some might expect.

From my understanding rate will rise from anywhere from the second quarter of 2016 to anywhere in 2017 but like most experts, we are all in the dark. With regards to pension funds, after charges, my fund has paid at least 5% for the past 5 years and this year is look pretty similar. Be aware that pension funds grow free from tax.

For the record I have my pension invested in a 'Cautious Fund' - I am too near to take risks now!

Whilst I liked 1st time poster's remarks I doubt you'll get 5% tax free in an ISA but it is a good suggestion nonetheless. Don't forget that these investments are limited.

Some of us have had a struggle Baron

as ive said above my worst case scenario decesions in about 2 years time are.

spend savings which will last approx 3 years before drawing down on pension pot

invest sed savings now into pension to take advantage of tax break and 2 years growth

or keep savings which are in isa wrappers and access pension pot in 2 yrs

my recent redundancy payments are seperate from savings and will last about 2 years,

? ? ?

best case senario another job in my area cropping up, another 18 months ,work would make all the difference

Thats a great way to live life,Baron,but its a single mans philosophy.Unfortunately most people get caught up with kids & mortgages.

For the record, private pensions cannot be touched until 55 unless you have an occupation where the HMRC allows earlier retirement.

There are not many but National Hunt jockey used to be one and also deep sea diver. One of them used to allow retirement at 35, if memory serves but, naturally, you would have had to be totally coining it in to have built up a pot big enough to do anything with at such a young age.

I'm 55 and have a final salary pension for £12k a year to come at 60 (from when I was 18 to 33) and also have £160k in a private scheme with earliest access also at 60. Also have 1/2 million savings and own house outright.

Not too shabby but should be a lot better because it is a SCANDAL that interest rates have been kept so low for so long so as to suit the feckless, irresponsible idiots who have borrowed way too much...

I'm not sure if the rule still applies but if you've been in a company pension for 2 years or less you 'could' usually get a refund