Pension Advice

Have we got any final salary pension experts on here ? . My wife has just taken some free advice paid for by her old employer Littlewoods Mail Order. The advisor  has told her to go down this route . Take 12k now and get £200 pcm for the rest of her life she is 57years old. 
The other option was  the fund is worth £103k and she could move it to another pension company and let them deal with it this way she would take £25k a year for the next few years ( and pay what ever tax's she would have to pay.  She would even take it all now and pay  ££££s in tax. But he says he won't help her find another provider if she wants to take the money and run.  
Has anyone else been in this situation from moving a pension ( final salary pension) to another company to take the money now  ?

I am not giving advice. But...

Check annuity rates based on age etc (smoking/non smoking). There are lots of online comparison sites.

Is the monthly rate offered linked to any index?

Consider Financial advisor fees - they are not cheap!

Not sure but option 1 looks interesting?

Juan

Newworld,

The figures you quote are not comparable.

I do not have any professional qualification in this sector, but have had some very modest experience of similar experiences myself in the past.

Your choice should be based on your needs, although on the face of things I agree with juansheetisplenty - Option 1 seems "interesting" - perhaps generous.  Are there some built in benefits, perhaps guaranteed annuity rates, within the scheme that you have not mentioned?

Option 2 will wipe out your fund in 4 years and is likely to incur a lot of income tax and possibly fees.  Of course this coflicts with the very intentions of a pension arrangement.

But without full information and knowing your situation no-one can be sure, so professional advice is the best route - the cost should be very modest.  They will need to assess the benefits under the Littlewoods scheme - so take this information with you when you meet them.

 

Thanks for the reply's guys, I think the advisor main job is keeping her money in the littlewoods fund, at the end of the he works with littlewoods, and if all littlewoods pension where moved out of the fund , there would be no fund left, But also he was thinking we would blow the money over a period of time, but this would not be the case we would put the money towards a property, which we would rent out , this would a bring in £500  per month. Everything we said he had a downer on ,examples House prices could go down , she would pay a lot of tax, might spend it on holidays. At the end of the day  he just want us to stay with Littlewoods.  So we are on own now to do what we want it.  Thanks again 

The financial advisor we have at work tells us that for each £1000 we want in retirement income, you have to have £20,000 in the pot.

The problem is that many financial advisors are hungry driven commission salespersons. I admit the regulators have tried to stop it, but what can you do about a pension company taking an advisor to this week’s Cheltenham races with an overnight stay in a top hotel?

Commision sales were banned in the UK some years ago 

The client and the adviser agree a fee for the work paid by the client 

If the client disagrees the fee then they can decline to engage the services of said firm

You cannot move a Final Salary scheme without advice 

Unbiased is a useful website to find a local adviser to you

Hello

Is RivieraEstates  a registered pension adviser in the UK regulated by the FCA?

DaniMenzes - does that matter?  It's good to have a well informed comment.

Dani 

Riviera estates does not provide financial advice and is not registered with the FCA 

Anyone can check on the FCA register if a firm has permissions and specifically which areas they can advise upon 

Hope this helps 

Many Thanks 

newworld.

I can not offer any specific advice however there are some things you need to be aware of:-

If you decide to draw the pension this is usually by way of an annuity. The way they calculate the amount you receive is basically based on two things, i) your age and ii) the interest rate at the time of buying the annuity. Therefore at your young age, 57 and female the life expectancy will be quite long and therefore the amount you recieve per month will be low PLUS with the recent drop in Bank rate it is certainly a very bad time to take the pension. As a rule, if possible, leave the fund within a pension fund as long as possible and use your other cash/investments to fund your everyday/annual income.

With regard to where to place your existing pension maybe SIPP can be considered so long as you are not tempted to take too much out too early. It is imperative to see an INDEPENDENT financial adviser and not one tied to a bank or insurance company. You also need to understand the tax implications of each and every option.

As a thought did you know that if you are a resident in the U.K. you can still invest, I believe, £3600 p.a. gross into a pension fund? This means that you only put in £2,800 but £3600 is invested for you.

Good luck

Thanks Steve I will pass this onto my wife . Cheers