Pension stuff, how's it all looking ? HAve you prepared ?

[weeksy]

I guess as an ongoing question then within this.

IFAs, how do you find/pick one ? Are they actually worth having ?

Essentially i have a few ideas looking at my pension, mortgage and plans for when i hit 55 years. But i'd like to know if they actually have any merit.

Part of my plan is taking some/all of the 25% allocation and what to do or not do with that... If i don't spend it all, would i reinvest it and would reinvesting it yield more or less than leaving it in there for example.
I know from something some have said you don't need to take all 25% at once... but i don't know what the rules are on what and when if you want to take say 10%, 10% a few years later and 5% a few after that.. So would be nice to get some decent advice so i can plan.

[Yorick]

Weeksy, I have 4 pension plans and all deferent.
Some just let me take a 25% tax free lump.
One lets me take what I want, with 25% being tax free.

The basic rules don't change, but the plans can handle them differently.
Best to ask your pension company how they do it.

[Cousin Jack]

Can I pay in weekly installments over 50 years?

Of course you can, the price is a bit higher though.

£10 pw, with an initial deposit of £50.

I'll send a cheque in the post.

If I ever get it I will frame it, so it will cost thee nowt.

[Yorick]

Of course you can, the price is a bit higher though.

£10 pw, with an initial deposit of £50.

I'll send a cheque in the post.

If I ever get it I will frame it, so it will cost thee nowt.

[Pirahna]

IFAs, how do you find/pick one ? Are they actually worth having ?

I use a crowd called Wealth at Work, the setup fees weren't cheap but they've paid it back many times over. For me they've definitely been worth it.

[weeksy]

IFAs, how do you find/pick one ? Are they actually worth having ?

I use a crowd called Wealth at Work, the setup fees weren't cheap but they've paid it back many times over. For me they've definitely been worth it.

And how did you find them and decide they were a good option ?

[Count Steer]

I guess as an ongoing question then within this.

IFAs, how do you find/pick one ? Are they actually worth having ?

Essentially i have a few ideas looking at my pension, mortgage and plans for when i hit 55 years. But i'd like to know if they actually have any merit.

Part of my plan is taking some/all of the 25% allocation and what to do or not do with that... If i don't spend it all, would i reinvest it and would reinvesting it yield more or less than leaving it in there for example.

There are some options but it sounds like all you need is a review and some advice/information. My concern would be an IFA will be delighted to say 'Take the 25% lump and invest it in these products that I get commission on'. As far as I know though you can pay them a fee and then what you buy doesn't get them commission. If they're 'free' then they have to make money somehow, they're in business to make money.

There's no real way of knowing if you'll make (or lose) more money on investments outside your pension other than taking the money and putting it in Premium Bonds or fixed term tax free wrappers like ISAs.

Find a local IFA outfit. Look at their people on their web site, see if they have a retirement specialist and what their 'CV' looks like. Pay them up front - expect the charge to have 3 zeros+. But...first, read up on things so you go into the conversation clued up in general terms on what and when you can pull £ out and with an idea of what you're trying to achieve. Pull together all the info on what you've got pension, mortgage, income, outgoings to present - you don't want to waste time you're paying for.

I'll see if I can find some clear info and stick up some links if I do. Fidelity send out some useful stuff.

[Count Steer]

Oh. I'd also probably start with the really free one. Pensionwise. I've used the service and it's pretty straight advice/info. I haven't done the full appointment thing but it looks like a good first step.

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensi ... nsion-wise

Options for taking money out

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensi ... on-options

[Taipan]

Of course you can, the price is a bit higher though.

£10 pw, with an initial deposit of £50.

I'll send a cheque in the post.

If I ever get it I will frame it, so it will cost thee nowt.

He's from Yorkshire, so it'll be some time before he gets over the postage costs...

[Mr. Dazzle]

Every company I've ever worked for which has a pension scheme also has a pensions advice service, maybe start there?

They're naturally going to be biased though of course.

[Count Steer]

Taking tax free cash from a pension.

https://retirement.fidelity.co.uk/acces ... tax%20free.

As Dazzle says, your company may also have an allocated advisor.

[weeksy]

They're naturally going to be biased though of course.

Well yes, exactly..

[Cousin Jack]

I'll send a cheque in the post.

If I ever get it I will frame it, so it will cost thee nowt.

He's from Yorkshire, so it'll be some time before he gets over the postage costs...

He will also lose his Yorkshire credentials. I know how to pay in a check via an app, get the money and still frame the paper cheque.

[v8-powered]

I don't think that there would be much money to be made from taking it out and investing it elsewhere to achieve more gains, unless it's huge risks and big promises on the returns.

My wife, who's partner in an IFA business, deals with this kind of thing on a regular basis - folks duped in to investing their pension pots in to wine, cigars, whisky, overseas property etc. Funnily enough all lose their cash despite professional advice.....

[Pirahna]

IFAs, how do you find/pick one ? Are they actually worth having ?

I use a crowd called Wealth at Work, the setup fees weren't cheap but they've paid it back many times over. For me they've definitely been worth it.

And how did you find them and decide they were a good option ?

They deal mainly with corporate clients and were founded my people who had previously worked at JP Morgan (same as wifey). They were engaged by JP Morgan to offer pension services within the bank. They came highly recommended from people within the bank. Wifey and I are not pension fund managers so it made sense to engage someone to do it for us.

[weeksy]

I wasn't thinking of taking it out to 'invest' as such. The 55 @25% will go towards finishing mortgage and potentially going racing. That'll also involve a house move and lower value but bigger house... So assuming there's some money left from it, it'll be more a case of where it'll go to maintain value which seems to be Premium Bonds or some of the other things Potter talks about. We're not talking hundreds of thousands, but we are potetnially talking a LOT more money than i've had lying round before now

[Count Steer]

Lopping a chunk off the mortgage makes much sense. (To me anyway). It's effectively taking it out of one appreciating asset and putting it in another, as long as the housing market holds up. Look out for charges on the mortgage if you pay it off early.

You don't have to take the 25% in one go either. AFAIK you could take a slice one year, let the rest grow and take another slice - or not if anything has changed. I guess that's where having a plan/target and some informed advice comes in.

(There aren't any obvious signs that the 25% tax free is going to change, but never say never).

[weeksy]

Lopping a chunk off the mortgage makes much sense. (To me anyway).

Yeah i hear you. That'll depend on the house move stuff as it could be we dramatically reduce it on the move anyway. But that's all very much an unknown quantity until we find a house we want and get a price for ours.

[Yambo]

. . . although in reality inflation in real terms is higher than the fantasy number they're punting out.

So what is the UK inflation rate at the moment?

[Yorick]

[

It was explained to me a long time ago like this…
An asset is something that makes you money, like a rental property. A liability is something that costs you money, like the house you live in.

Our villa is paid for. We rent out the basement apartment.

Where's this fit in the plan ?