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Pensions - DO NOT MISS OUT!

A bit of friendly advice, I am fast approaching 55 and have started to think about what to do with my pension. After a bit of digging around it is now pensionS! I worked for a few different firms in my late teens and early 20's, an age when pensions were hardly top of my priority list and although I knew I had a couple of small plans going I had not thought about my first employer, certainly not when my last illustration from them was predicting an annual pension of about £60 per annum. Like many of my generation I started work in a bank, Barclays Bank at the age of 18, I left 4 years later and thought no more of that job really. Pension funds have made a lot of effort to track down members over the past 20 years and if you have received one of those "tracer" letters do not ignore it. More through luck than judgement I was enrolled into the 1964 Barclays Pension non-contributory scheme. After a tip off from another Barclays employee of the same era I contacted the firm who do look after this scheme and have discovered that I have a not insignificant fund sitting there.
So if you worked for a large financial institution in your youth and are of an age before these schemes were scrapped do look into it, no matter how short your employ was. Easily done on the internet. Wills Towers Watson deal with Barclays for example.
No wonder @Covered End can afford Lords tickets every year! (he was my section head 30 odd years ago).
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Comments

  • Good on both of you and I say that with no sarcasm, it's a chink of positivity in a drab world hearing things like that

    Sadly I have just been rumped for the second time in 10 years for my pension. At 37 I had 17 years of a decent pot building up to a guaranteed amount when I decide to retire. For the next 30 odd years I am essentially only building up an endowment where I can actually lose money. Which is fucking shit and makes me kick myself as I could have left for a much more lucrative self employed role and fucked myself over for a non-pension.

    Sorry for hijacking to have a blow, good on you for sharing he information
  • No DB pensions for us young guns...
  • Riviera said:

    A bit of friendly advice, I am fast approaching 55 and have started to think about what to do with my pension. After a bit of digging around it is now pensionS! I worked for a few different firms in my late teens and early 20's, an age when pensions were hardly top of my priority list and although I knew I had a couple of small plans going I had not thought about my first employer, certainly not when my last illustration from them was predicting an annual pension of about £60 per annum. Like many of my generation I started work in a bank, Barclays Bank at the age of 18, I left 4 years later and thought no more of that job really. Pension funds have made a lot of effort to track down members over the past 20 years and if you have received one of those "tracer" letters do not ignore it. More through luck than judgement I was enrolled into the 1964 Barclays Pension non-contributory scheme. After a tip off from another Barclays employee of the same era I contacted the firm who do look after this scheme and have discovered that I have a not insignificant fund sitting there.
    So if you worked for a large financial institution in your youth and are of an age before these schemes were scrapped do look into it, no matter how short your employ was. Easily done on the internet. Wills Towers Watson deal with Barclays for example.
    No wonder @Covered End can afford Lords tickets every year! (he was my section head 30 odd years ago).

    Riviera, good timely post in light of Brexit shenanigans. You can choose the market where your investments can hopefully mature. Get on to your broker tommorow and ensure any of your options are not sterling based, because they will tank any day now. Project Fear? Do you want to risk it?
  • Carter said:

    Good on both of you and I say that with no sarcasm, it's a chink of positivity in a drab world hearing things like that

    Sadly I have just been rumped for the second time in 10 years for my pension. At 37 I had 17 years of a decent pot building up to a guaranteed amount when I decide to retire. For the next 30 odd years I am essentially only building up an endowment where I can actually lose money. Which is fucking shit and makes me kick myself as I could have left for a much more lucrative self employed role and fucked myself over for a non-pension.

    Sorry for hijacking to have a blow, good on you for sharing he information

    You need to speak to a good IFA.... ;)

    Seriously though.....what do you mean "esentially only building up a endowment where I can actually lose money..."

    I'm assuming you mean you have a define contribution scheme where your & your employers payments go into a group (personal) pension. Still not bad & has certain benefits that a final salary (guaranteed as you put it) doesn't have. Flexibility & the option to pass it all tax free to your dependanrs on death being just 2.

    Also......always check what funds you are invested in. You could be in the "default" fund.....which could be a middle of the road managed fund, or (like one I saw earlier this week) mainly cash & gilts......not the place to be over the past 10 years. If you don't do anything else, check the investments you are in & the other choices open to you.

    We've had a few seminars and lectures and comparisons that all depress me as they show me being hugely worse off. I've got an appointment booked with an IFA but from speaking to a friend who is in that game he told me what I already knew in that he couldn't advise me in regard to the different investments (safe, aggressive, middle of the road as you said) which is fair enough but pissing me off. And on top of this our employers haven't shown us how this wholesale shagging won't mean we all get done over again in another decade
  • Carter said:

    Carter said:

    Good on both of you and I say that with no sarcasm, it's a chink of positivity in a drab world hearing things like that

    Sadly I have just been rumped for the second time in 10 years for my pension. At 37 I had 17 years of a decent pot building up to a guaranteed amount when I decide to retire. For the next 30 odd years I am essentially only building up an endowment where I can actually lose money. Which is fucking shit and makes me kick myself as I could have left for a much more lucrative self employed role and fucked myself over for a non-pension.

    Sorry for hijacking to have a blow, good on you for sharing he information

    You need to speak to a good IFA.... ;)

    Seriously though.....what do you mean "esentially only building up a endowment where I can actually lose money..."

    I'm assuming you mean you have a define contribution scheme where your & your employers payments go into a group (personal) pension. Still not bad & has certain benefits that a final salary (guaranteed as you put it) doesn't have. Flexibility & the option to pass it all tax free to your dependanrs on death being just 2.

    Also......always check what funds you are invested in. You could be in the "default" fund.....which could be a middle of the road managed fund, or (like one I saw earlier this week) mainly cash & gilts......not the place to be over the past 10 years. If you don't do anything else, check the investments you are in & the other choices open to you.

    We've had a few seminars and lectures and comparisons that all depress me as they show me being hugely worse off. I've got an appointment booked with an IFA but from speaking to a friend who is in that game he told me what I already knew in that he couldn't advise me in regard to the different investments (safe, aggressive, middle of the road as you said) which is fair enough but pissing me off. And on top of this our employers haven't shown us how this wholesale shagging won't mean we all get done over again in another decade
    Do you work for CAFC?
  • Carter said:

    Carter said:

    Good on both of you and I say that with no sarcasm, it's a chink of positivity in a drab world hearing things like that

    Sadly I have just been rumped for the second time in 10 years for my pension. At 37 I had 17 years of a decent pot building up to a guaranteed amount when I decide to retire. For the next 30 odd years I am essentially only building up an endowment where I can actually lose money. Which is fucking shit and makes me kick myself as I could have left for a much more lucrative self employed role and fucked myself over for a non-pension.

    Sorry for hijacking to have a blow, good on you for sharing he information

    You need to speak to a good IFA.... ;)

    Seriously though.....what do you mean "esentially only building up a endowment where I can actually lose money..."

    I'm assuming you mean you have a define contribution scheme where your & your employers payments go into a group (personal) pension. Still not bad & has certain benefits that a final salary (guaranteed as you put it) doesn't have. Flexibility & the option to pass it all tax free to your dependanrs on death being just 2.

    Also......always check what funds you are invested in. You could be in the "default" fund.....which could be a middle of the road managed fund, or (like one I saw earlier this week) mainly cash & gilts......not the place to be over the past 10 years. If you don't do anything else, check the investments you are in & the other choices open to you.

    We've had a few seminars and lectures and comparisons that all depress me as they show me being hugely worse off. I've got an appointment booked with an IFA but from speaking to a friend who is in that game he told me what I already knew in that he couldn't advise me in regard to the different investments (safe, aggressive, middle of the road as you said) which is fair enough but pissing me off. And on top of this our employers haven't shown us how this wholesale shagging won't mean we all get done over again in another decade
    Sorry I don't quite understand. Who couldn't advise you of yourel different investment choices.....your mate or the IFA ?? I don't expect you mate could, but an IFA certainly can. He may charge you for the advice, or he may do it for nothing (as I often do)

    And yes, changing from.a DB scheme to a DC scheme will leave you worse off. Probably by around 25%-30%. DB schemes are very expensive to run & virtually all have been closed (or being phased out)
  • Carter said:

    Carter said:

    Good on both of you and I say that with no sarcasm, it's a chink of positivity in a drab world hearing things like that

    Sadly I have just been rumped for the second time in 10 years for my pension. At 37 I had 17 years of a decent pot building up to a guaranteed amount when I decide to retire. For the next 30 odd years I am essentially only building up an endowment where I can actually lose money. Which is fucking shit and makes me kick myself as I could have left for a much more lucrative self employed role and fucked myself over for a non-pension.

    Sorry for hijacking to have a blow, good on you for sharing he information

    You need to speak to a good IFA.... ;)

    Seriously though.....what do you mean "esentially only building up a endowment where I can actually lose money..."

    I'm assuming you mean you have a define contribution scheme where your & your employers payments go into a group (personal) pension. Still not bad & has certain benefits that a final salary (guaranteed as you put it) doesn't have. Flexibility & the option to pass it all tax free to your dependanrs on death being just 2.

    Also......always check what funds you are invested in. You could be in the "default" fund.....which could be a middle of the road managed fund, or (like one I saw earlier this week) mainly cash & gilts......not the place to be over the past 10 years. If you don't do anything else, check the investments you are in & the other choices open to you.

    We've had a few seminars and lectures and comparisons that all depress me as they show me being hugely worse off. I've got an appointment booked with an IFA but from speaking to a friend who is in that game he told me what I already knew in that he couldn't advise me in regard to the different investments (safe, aggressive, middle of the road as you said) which is fair enough but pissing me off. And on top of this our employers haven't shown us how this wholesale shagging won't mean we all get done over again in another decade
    Sorry I don't quite understand. Who couldn't advise you of yourel different investment choices.....your mate or the IFA ?? I don't expect you mate could, but an IFA certainly can. He may charge you for the advice, or he may do it for nothing (as I often do)

    And yes, changing from.a DB scheme to a DC scheme will leave you worse off. Probably by around 25%-30%. DB schemes are very expensive to run & virtually all have been closed (or being phased out)
    My mate who is a financial advisor said, and I'm happy to be proven wrong here, he could only show me my options and couldn't advise me on the best decision to make which at face value is fair enough as it is me the decision affects. My problem is my 3 options are all leaving me substantially worse off!

    What offends me is I work for a successful firm, I feel that morally our pensions should have been honoured, I understand how the world works and that money for the workers has to be taken for director bonuses, shareholder dividends and generally to keep the money men in the city bubbly in the gusset however ethically it stinks and has made me feel a prick that I have given so much of my life to my employers when I could have gone elsewhere years ago, earned more and invested that myself at personal risk which is essentially what my choice is now. The irony of cutbacks to essential services apparently necessary to pay off a huge debt caused by the same people who are responsible for ensuring no matter how much overtime or callouts I do (now completely non-pensionable) I'm now working into my sixties whereas before I had a chance of retiring while still relatively young and living with some dignity.
  • I didn't post to start an argument, pensions for the younger generations are not good. I just wanted to let the 50+'s to not forget their early employers. There is gold in them hills...
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  • Riviera said:

    I didn't post to start an argument, pensions for the younger generations are not good. I just wanted to let the 50+'s to not forget their early employers. There is gold in them hills...

    Yeah fair one, for what it's worth I'm not arguing or disagreeing with anyone just moaning about my own injustices
  • My biggest concern is do I take my tax free lump sum from an old DC scheme before or after Brexit?

    I can worry about the drawdown/annuity questions later.

    @golfaddick - you may be getting a call in the New Year :smile:
  • mate id take it before as we will all die of dehydration after as we wont have any bottled water .

    PS or invest in Peckham Spring
  • Addickted said:

    My biggest concern is do I take my tax free lump sum from an old DC scheme before or after Brexit?

    I can worry about the drawdown/annuity questions later.

    @golfaddick - you may be getting a call in the New Year :smile:

    Again my question is where is the money currently invested ?? World stock markets are down by around 8-10% over the past 6 months & bonds aren't doing too much either. Would you (if you could) switch the funds into cash so as to protect it ?? Or just ride out the storm?? No-one knows what the future holds.....if your pension has already lost this amount is it best to leave it as it is & hope for it to regain it's value ?? And where do you put the TFC when you take it ?? Great if you have a need for it like paying off your mortgage or helping the kids out with a deposit on a house......but if you are just banking it into a very low rate deposit account then is that the best option ??
  • Nice advice Chirps. Plenty of political point scoring to be had, but unlike others I'll take this in the spirit in which it is meant and say thank you. (I am aware by writing that I am actually being hypocritical - but it really is meant as a thank you).
  • Something I don't have to worry about a pension.
    I have it in my pocket.
  • Carter said:

    Carter said:

    Carter said:

    Good on both of you and I say that with no sarcasm, it's a chink of positivity in a drab world hearing things like that

    Sadly I have just been rumped for the second time in 10 years for my pension. At 37 I had 17 years of a decent pot building up to a guaranteed amount when I decide to retire. For the next 30 odd years I am essentially only building up an endowment where I can actually lose money. Which is fucking shit and makes me kick myself as I could have left for a much more lucrative self employed role and fucked myself over for a non-pension.

    Sorry for hijacking to have a blow, good on you for sharing he information

    You need to speak to a good IFA.... ;)

    Seriously though.....what do you mean "esentially only building up a endowment where I can actually lose money..."

    I'm assuming you mean you have a define contribution scheme where your & your employers payments go into a group (personal) pension. Still not bad & has certain benefits that a final salary (guaranteed as you put it) doesn't have. Flexibility & the option to pass it all tax free to your dependanrs on death being just 2.

    Also......always check what funds you are invested in. You could be in the "default" fund.....which could be a middle of the road managed fund, or (like one I saw earlier this week) mainly cash & gilts......not the place to be over the past 10 years. If you don't do anything else, check the investments you are in & the other choices open to you.

    We've had a few seminars and lectures and comparisons that all depress me as they show me being hugely worse off. I've got an appointment booked with an IFA but from speaking to a friend who is in that game he told me what I already knew in that he couldn't advise me in regard to the different investments (safe, aggressive, middle of the road as you said) which is fair enough but pissing me off. And on top of this our employers haven't shown us how this wholesale shagging won't mean we all get done over again in another decade
    Sorry I don't quite understand. Who couldn't advise you of yourel different investment choices.....your mate or the IFA ?? I don't expect you mate could, but an IFA certainly can. He may charge you for the advice, or he may do it for nothing (as I often do)

    And yes, changing from.a DB scheme to a DC scheme will leave you worse off. Probably by around 25%-30%. DB schemes are very expensive to run & virtually all have been closed (or being phased out)
    My mate who is a financial advisor said, and I'm happy to be proven wrong here, he could only show me my options and couldn't advise me on the best decision to make which at face value is fair enough as it is me the decision affects. My problem is my 3 options are all leaving me substantially worse off!

    What offends me is I work for a successful firm, I feel that morally our pensions should have been honoured, I understand how the world works and that money for the workers has to be taken for director bonuses, shareholder dividends and generally to keep the money men in the city bubbly in the gusset however ethically it stinks and has made me feel a prick that I have given so much of my life to my employers when I could have gone elsewhere years ago, earned more and invested that myself at personal risk which is essentially what my choice is now. The irony of cutbacks to essential services apparently necessary to pay off a huge debt caused by the same people who are responsible for ensuring no matter how much overtime or callouts I do (now completely non-pensionable) I'm now working into my sixties whereas before I had a chance of retiring while still relatively young and living with some dignity.
    I'm assuming your employer pays into the new scheme too.....matched contributions so better than doing it all on your own ??

    It's not just you.....virtually all workers in DB schemes have had this change. I know the NHS Pension inside out & the changes there are similar too. Gone from final salary to "career average" (crap definition btw). Retirement age gone from 60 to 65....and now to SRA. Contributions gone from a standard 6% for all workers (5% for porters etc) to as much as 13% for the top earners, and like you some "bonuses" (Clinical Excellence Awards) have become non pensionable.

    One thing that is a bonus is that if you've gone from a DB scheme to a DC scheme the calculation for your Annual Allowance "pot" is a damn sight easier to work out !!
  • Riviera said:

    I didn't post to start an argument, pensions for the younger generations are not good. I just wanted to let the 50+'s to not forget their early employers. There is gold in them hills...

    You are so right. I contributed into an AVC scheme with a previous employer.
    At the time I thought it was a good idea as I planned to live out my life at that company. Things didn’t work out that way and basically I had wasted my money paying into it as I took it out after 1987 and wouldn’t be able to take a cash lump sum, wouldn’t be able to add to it or move it to another employers and would have to buy an annuity with it 25 years in the future which would pay me next to nothing for life.
    Thankfully there was a change in law and now being 55 years old I can take the lot with 25% of it tax free. So next April when the tax freehold increases I will be taking the lot. I will have to pay higher rate of tax on some of it but I did have tax relief on contributions when I paid into it. Can’t have it both ways but that’s only fair, we all need to pay taxes.
    Better in my pocket now than when I’m old and the only pleasure I can get from money is to count it. It’s not a life changer amount but not to be sniffed at either.
  • clb74 said:

    Something I don't have to worry about a pension.
    I have it in my pocket.

    I'm very fortunate to be in the same position, but I fear for others who are not.
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  • Riviera said:

    I didn't post to start an argument, pensions for the younger generations are not good. I just wanted to let the 50+'s to not forget their early employers. There is gold in them hills...

    You are so right. I contributed into an AVC scheme with a previous employer.
    At the time I thought it was a good idea as I planned to live out my life at that company. Things didn’t work out that way and basically I had wasted my money paying into it as I took it out after 1987 and wouldn’t be able to take a cash lump sum, wouldn’t be able to add to it or move it to another employers and would have to buy an annuity with it 25 years in the future which would pay me next to nothing for life.
    Thankfully there was a change in law and now being 55 years old I can take the lot with 25% of it tax free. So next April when the tax freehold increases I will be taking the lot. I will have to pay higher rate of tax on some of it but I did have tax relief on contributions when I paid into it. Can’t have it both ways but that’s only fair, we all need to pay taxes.
    Better in my pocket now than when I’m old and the only pleasure I can get from money is to count it. It’s not a life changer amount but not to be sniffed at either.
    I'd be interested in seeing how you get it out when the time comes. Is it still with the ex-employer or now under your own control ?? It sounds like it's over the limit where you can do it yourself & pension providers now need to make sure you've taken appropriate advice. Why would you want to lose 40% in tax ?? Why not take the 25% tfc & then the rest over time ?? If you're not working then you have £11500 pa annual allowance to use up & then almost 40k at 20%.

    And once you have this money....what do you do with it ?? Put it in a bank earning diddly squat ??

    I think I should be recommending my services.....
  • bobmunro said:

    clb74 said:

    Something I don't have to worry about a pension.
    I have it in my pocket.

    I'm very fortunate to be in the same position, but I fear for others who are not.
    I don't have to worry about a pension Bob because I haven't got one.
  • clb74 said:

    bobmunro said:

    clb74 said:

    Something I don't have to worry about a pension.
    I have it in my pocket.

    I'm very fortunate to be in the same position, but I fear for others who are not.
    I don't have to worry about a pension Bob because I haven't got one.
    Ah!
  • T_C_E said:

    I'd like to say I planned my what I consider good fortune, I had no idea this is how it would turn out I'm not clever enough, I just deducted a mortgage and expenses from my salary and decided we could live on what what remained I simply no longer wanted to work for the company I'd worked for but knew I probably wouldn't get another job at 55+. I had run in with a wannabe manager who's only farewell comment on leaving my job was "enjoy the pension I'm paying for you" then got the reply "it's only fair, after all, I paid for your free school dinners" harsh but fair I thought ;)

    I don't wish my life away however I have had many dreams and thoughts of what is do on my last day of work and what I'd say to whoever was the manager out of the bad ones I've had

  • Semi retirement is the way to go. Working mostly from home does make it so much simpler, as long as you make sure everyone knows you are available.

    Just fade away into the background, whilst they continue to pay you and put into your pension.
  • Addickted said:

    Semi retirement is the way to go. Working mostly from home does make it so much simpler, as long as you make sure everyone knows you are available.

    Just fade away into the background, whilst they continue to pay you and put into your pension.

    Yeah I agree, as long as you are doing a job that can be done remotely that's the way to bow out

  • They've had more than their pound of flesh from me over the years, so head below the parapet, show my face every now and then kick the tin down the road until I decide it's time to pack it in.
  • Addickted said:

    Semi retirement is the way to go. Working mostly from home does make it so much simpler, as long as you make sure everyone knows you are available.

    Just fade away into the background, whilst they continue to pay you and put into your pension.

    That's my plan over the next two to three years - but I'll always want to be involved in some way so I'm not sure I'll ever fully retire.
  • bobmunro said:

    Addickted said:

    Semi retirement is the way to go. Working mostly from home does make it so much simpler, as long as you make sure everyone knows you are available.

    Just fade away into the background, whilst they continue to pay you and put into your pension.

    That's my plan over the next two to three years - but I'll always want to be involved in some way so I'm not sure I'll ever fully retire.
    I always thought that as well, but health issues can sometimes overtake you.
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