dont laugh out there.
i have a privater pension that should / could start paying out in november,i have received a wadd of paper that could be describing quantam physics for all i know so my question is....anyone on here deal with pensions and be able to give me some advice,and NO i wont be donating any of my new found riches to you orible lot !

Not an expert but the best advice is to shop around before you buy a pension, do not just buy from your current provider.

not buying,the money is heading my way....rari or desert island ???

You could start to view the pensions threads on moneysavingsexpert and do some searches there. It is likely someone else has asked the same question.

However as you will soon realise advice is strictly regulated nowadays, and, as far as I am aware cannot be given anyway until a factfind has been conducted and your circumstances/risk appetite etc been assessed.

It's a minefield. Sorry.

It really is worth investing in some time with an IFA (Independent Financial Advisor) - they don't come cheap, but the outcome should be a lot better.

Ask amongst the people you know - they may be able to recommend someone locally.

cheers peeps,ill have an ask round.

Not an expert btw - But I retire in the next couple of years so Ive been reading quite a bit recently.


Is it a lump sum or lump sum and monthly pay ? Annuities are a waste of time, with a lot of bad press.


Low interest rates dont help, my plan is to fill 2 isas in steady grower investment trusts, spread across diverse sectors so the peaks & troughs iron out. Then the same again in year 2 of retirement in a different trust.

The trusts are invested in ftse100 companies, big names no mickey mouse stuff. With your money in a isa (nisa) its exempt from tax, capital gains etc. Your money is also inflation proofed as the companies grow with the economy, unlike when your in a bank you get peanuts for it, meanwhile inflation goes up every year.


There are current accounts paying 5%, so you and the wife can have one each and spread some in there.


Another thought would be buy a house and let it out, housing market is going to grow and so rents will also rise.


I use Hargreave Lansdown , not financial advisors but the site is full of reading. like anything to do with money be very careful its your pension money, so as David suggested some decent advice is worth paying for. I will be visiting an advisor before I do anything with my pot. The reason I am reading about it in depth is I want a grasp of whats available before I go listen to a suit advising me.....with my hard earned.

twil be a monthly sum,i have a lump from the sale/downsizing of my house,ill have a word round and see if anyone does it for a living,cheers all

I can give you the number of my IFA.

I'm no financial expert so I figured I needed to use someone who is better positioned to be able to compare the market than me and my computer.
Using resources on the internet is just not good enough - there are loads if products out there which are not available on money supermarket, compare the market etc

He's not cheap, but it's worth it.

To give you some idea, he's recently moved my pension to a better yielding fund which Has cheaper fees than the one I had before.

I got him from a recommendation from one of my parents friends who's been with him for about 15 years - so he must be doing something right!

IFAs once used to push products which paid them the most commission, thats all recently been scrapped as you can imagine the products werent always in your best interests.

Does your imminent pension come from a pension pot? If it does then you should shop around for a possible better deal. You can take 25% tax free from the pension pot. If you've had any recent serious illness (heart problems,cancer etc) then you can get an enhanced pension. From July next year you can have the whole of the pension pot - 25% tax free but the rest is classed as income so you could be paying 40%+ tax on it.

yea it,s from a pot.
i dont know how much a month i can get as i have to fill in a form before they will tell me,trouble is the form is too complicated for a simple being like me

Sounds like you're being shafted. They must tell you how much is in the pot and give you a forecast. Taking 25% of the pot is a no brainer, the rest is up to you not your pension provider. So once you know the pot value shop around for the best deal. Annuities aren't brilliant but if you expect to live another 25+ years then they make more sense. I used Annuity Line in Peterborough last year.

i know how much is in the pot,well there are 2 figures ,i just want it to pay out monthly but as i said before,i know nothing about quantam physics

You can also put the money into a short-term annuity - I had a small pension pot from the few years that I ran my own 1-man company, and that's currently in a 5-year annuity. The hope is that when renewal time comes along the returns will have improved. Otherwise, I shall probably look at taking the money out and investing it somewhere more useful.

like a previous poster we've had a IFA for the past 10 years that has done everything for us snd made/saved us a good deal.
pensions from old companies left in old schemes were assessed and one of them moved which has now outperformed the original one by several Łk in the last year. well worth it. get good advice.

paul