JoanUK300

I have just received a statement on my Private Pension and it is worth in the region of £4800. I haven`t contributed to it since giving up work in 1994 as I had a baby and they said as I wasn`t earning I could not contribute anymore, so it was frozen.

Now....can I cash it in as it is basically doing nothing in their hands and I could put it to much better use.

EddScott

A Personal Pension can't be "Cashed in" until Pensionable age and at that point you can choose to take 25% as tax free cash. You may find it beneficial to move the fund from its current location to the new style of "Stakeholder" pension which has lower charges and you are able to contribute up to £3,600 gross without having to prove earnings.

Your better off contacting a local IFA who should be able to help you.

Apparition

Ahem ! I'm 52 and have just closed my personal pension with Standard Life. Mainly because the thieving s)ds were charging the grand total of £400+ per year for the priveledge of having them run my pension ! I walked away with 25% as stated above, and will now for the next few years receive the rest in quarterly payments of something silly like £11 ...... Cor... I'm going to go mad with that aren't I ? So look at the small print, see what they are charging you.....

Tiggs

you need to take the fund out of its pot between 50 and 75- forget when you retire or your pension age.

assuming you aint 50 then you cant have it.

once 50 you can take 25% and the rest is your income (dont take it from the provider of the pension without checking around- you can get the annuity from the other 75% from anywhere.

get an ifa to look into changing the provider but dont assume stakeholder plans will be cheaper- some old style plans had big up front costs but where then cheap year to year....you may go from .75%pa to a 1%pa stakeholder.


the problem you will face is finding an adviser to look at it for you. even if they move it the commision will be tiny so they will cahrge you a fee...and on a fund that small it will work out pricey.

T

JoanUK300

at the moment it would give me a pension of £100 per year
So you all say I can`t touch it until I am at least 50....another bludy 15 years!!!!

Can I transfer it into another pension fund that I can also contribute to now then?


Joan.

Tiggs

you can contribute to a pension now as stakeholder allows contibutions within limits that arent based on earnings (my kids both have stakeholders)

whether you should put the old plan in the same new fund is a different question...as covered above.

and what good would a pension be if you could spend it at 35?

imlach

Is it not the case that sportspeople can draw on a pension when they 'retire' from their sport?

Is this a special case? If not, what defines that rule, and can Joan not claim if she was to 'retire' from her chosen profession

Dan J

Yes for example pro footballers can take their benefits earlier as it's deemed that their working life is over much earlier than the likes of joe public who can continue with their desk job all their life. Thing is lots of pro footballers these days move across into coaching, management or tv pundits so still end up earning more than most of us!

As mentioned though a personal pension has to be taken between the ages of 50 and 75. Some of the older style pensions can't actually be taken until you're 60. I'm an IFA and live in Herts also so if you wanted me to look into it for you I'd be happy to. As mentioned on a pension of that size the commission on any business would be minimal but as a fellow Scoobynetter I'd look at it for you without charging any fee etc.

Give me a shout if you'd like some advice on it.

Dan.

imlach

Hmm....seems a bit unfair. At the end of the day, these sportspeople are Joe Public too, and can do a deskjob until 62.

Do lapdancers & hookers qualify for this 'exclusion' as well given their "useful working life" is over after 35 too?

Dan J

Fair it isn't imlach! It's the old rich get richer...

Lol funnily enough I have a few lapdancers as clients and one hooker would you believe! Sadly for them they don't get the same priviledges!

GM

The good news is that you won't have to wait until you're 50.

The bad news is that you'll have to wait until you're 55 because of the simplification <cough> proposals that will apply from 2006. If it makes you feel any better pro sportspeople will have to wait until then as well - no-one will be able to take benefits before age 55 from 2010 onwards. I believe that the PFA is negotiating hard to get this turned around as they claim that "early payment of retirement benefits is essential to finance the retraining necessary for a second career...". Or to stock up the pub so they can start drinking it dry.

Don't think there would be a problem with a lapdancer retiring at 35 under the current system - Appendix 10 of the IR Personal Pension Guidance Notes allows dancers (type unspecified) to retire from 35. Doesn't mention hookers surprisingly enough...

G

Dan J

All existing plans will still allow you to retire at 50 the changes to 55 will only apply to plans taken out once the legislation comes into force.