I took my 25% tax free cash from my SIPP last year and am very pleased I did. If Labour stay in government they will most likely be coming for it sooner or later. I voted Labour but it could be a very expensive vote.
It's one of the few times I wish I was a couple of years older, still 2 years 3 months and 15 days until I can get my tax free lump sum out!!
So I have an old final salary pension as well as my current work pension. I was in it for 13 years, I’m 57 so could take this but was hanging on until I’m 60. Would it be a good idea to take this now & guarantee my 25% lump sum , what with all the uncertainties ?!
You could do. What is the normal retirement age for the scheme ? I'd expect there to be penalties/actuarial reductions if you took it early. If the retirement age was 60 then you might only lose 10-12% of the lump sum. If it was 65 it might not be worth it.
Always good to get an annual statement of its current value & options to take it early.
A simple point, but a very crucial one. Whilst I could retire at 55 and take my pension, my old DB scheme had a built in retirement age of 60. They would have reduced my annual pension by 20% (4% for every year to 60) if I had stayed in the scheme and it was another key reason for me opting to move the full pension to a SIPP and take a flexible drawdown.
Yes, I moved the full pension to a SIPP and then withdrew the full 25% tax free lump sum when Rachel Reeves started hinting about a cash grab.
I took my 25% tax free cash from my SIPP last year and am very pleased I did. If Labour stay in government they will most likely be coming for it sooner or later. I voted Labour but it could be a very expensive vote.
It's one of the few times I wish I was a couple of years older, still 2 years 3 months and 15 days until I can get my tax free lump sum out!!
So I have an old final salary pension as well as my current work pension. I was in it for 13 years, I’m 57 so could take this but was hanging on until I’m 60. Would it be a good idea to take this now & guarantee my 25% lump sum , what with all the uncertainties ?!
You could do. What is the normal retirement age for the scheme ? I'd expect there to be penalties/actuarial reductions if you took it early. If the retirement age was 60 then you might only lose 10-12% of the lump sum. If it was 65 it might not be worth it.
Always good to get an annual statement of its current value & options to take it early.
A simple point, but a very crucial one. Whilst I could retire at 55 and take my pension, my old DB scheme had a built in retirement age of 60. They would have reduced my annual pension by 20% (4% for every year to 60) if I had stayed in the scheme and it was another key reason for me opting to move the full pension to a SIPP and take a flexible drawdown.
Yes, I moved the full pension to a SIPP and then withdrew the full 25% tax free lump sum when Rachel Reeves started hinting about a cash grab.
May well come back and bite me on the ar$e, but I’m relatively relaxed about this at the moment. Struggling to see how they could penalise people who have retired and essentially put in a 20/30 year plan to manage their pensions, which is what successive governments have wanted. Potentially, I could see some changes to the rules going forward with pensions not yet taken.
I took my 25% tax free cash from my SIPP last year and am very pleased I did. If Labour stay in government they will most likely be coming for it sooner or later. I voted Labour but it could be a very expensive vote.
It's one of the few times I wish I was a couple of years older, still 2 years 3 months and 15 days until I can get my tax free lump sum out!!
So I have an old final salary pension as well as my current work pension. I was in it for 13 years, I’m 57 so could take this but was hanging on until I’m 60. Would it be a good idea to take this now & guarantee my 25% lump sum , what with all the uncertainties ?!
You could do. What is the normal retirement age for the scheme ? I'd expect there to be penalties/actuarial reductions if you took it early. If the retirement age was 60 then you might only lose 10-12% of the lump sum. If it was 65 it might not be worth it.
Always good to get an annual statement of its current value & options to take it early.
A simple point, but a very crucial one. Whilst I could retire at 55 and take my pension, my old DB scheme had a built in retirement age of 60. They would have reduced my annual pension by 20% (4% for every year to 60) if I had stayed in the scheme and it was another key reason for me opting to move the full pension to a SIPP and take a flexible drawdown.
Yes, I moved the full pension to a SIPP and then withdrew the full 25% tax free lump sum when Rachel Reeves started hinting about a cash grab.
May well come back and bite me on the ar$e, but I’m relatively relaxed about this at the moment. Struggling to see how they could penalise people who have retired and essentially put in a 20/30 year plan to manage their pensions, which is what successive governments have wanted. Potentially, I could see some changes to the rules going forward with pensions not yet taken.
I admire your bravery!! It used to be higher, 25% with no limit wasn’t it?
I took my 25% tax free cash from my SIPP last year and am very pleased I did. If Labour stay in government they will most likely be coming for it sooner or later. I voted Labour but it could be a very expensive vote.
It's one of the few times I wish I was a couple of years older, still 2 years 3 months and 15 days until I can get my tax free lump sum out!!
So I have an old final salary pension as well as my current work pension. I was in it for 13 years, I’m 57 so could take this but was hanging on until I’m 60. Would it be a good idea to take this now & guarantee my 25% lump sum , what with all the uncertainties ?!
You could do. What is the normal retirement age for the scheme ? I'd expect there to be penalties/actuarial reductions if you took it early. If the retirement age was 60 then you might only lose 10-12% of the lump sum. If it was 65 it might not be worth it.
Always good to get an annual statement of its current value & options to take it early.
A simple point, but a very crucial one. Whilst I could retire at 55 and take my pension, my old DB scheme had a built in retirement age of 60. They would have reduced my annual pension by 20% (4% for every year to 60) if I had stayed in the scheme and it was another key reason for me opting to move the full pension to a SIPP and take a flexible drawdown.
Yes, I moved the full pension to a SIPP and then withdrew the full 25% tax free lump sum when Rachel Reeves started hinting about a cash grab.
May well come back and bite me on the ar$e, but I’m relatively relaxed about this at the moment. Struggling to see how they could penalise people who have retired and essentially put in a 20/30 year plan to manage their pensions, which is what successive governments have wanted. Potentially, I could see some changes to the rules going forward with pensions not yet taken.
I admire your bravery!! It used to be higher, 25% with no limit wasn’t it?
Yes. But I think the real question is how soon could such changes be enacted?
Is it possible to do immediately at the budget or from the next tax year for example!? Presumably the pension industry need some notice to change / amend systems and processes. Maybe I’m being too optimistic but I recall from my own career white/green papers etc before new legislation announced at a budget get enacted?
We used to anticipate project spend to follow up on budget items.
I may be too optimistic as I haven’t taken my full tax free sum yet. 😉
Both of us took pensions and lump sums as soon as we could so they couldn't be grabbed. Lost some pension income as a result but not enough to affect our decisions. Always thought government would go after pension pots at some point.
I took my 25% tax free cash from my SIPP last year and am very pleased I did. If Labour stay in government they will most likely be coming for it sooner or later. I voted Labour but it could be a very expensive vote.
It's one of the few times I wish I was a couple of years older, still 2 years 3 months and 15 days until I can get my tax free lump sum out!!
So I have an old final salary pension as well as my current work pension. I was in it for 13 years, I’m 57 so could take this but was hanging on until I’m 60. Would it be a good idea to take this now & guarantee my 25% lump sum , what with all the uncertainties ?!
You could do. What is the normal retirement age for the scheme ? I'd expect there to be penalties/actuarial reductions if you took it early. If the retirement age was 60 then you might only lose 10-12% of the lump sum. If it was 65 it might not be worth it.
Always good to get an annual statement of its current value & options to take it early.
A simple point, but a very crucial one. Whilst I could retire at 55 and take my pension, my old DB scheme had a built in retirement age of 60. They would have reduced my annual pension by 20% (4% for every year to 60) if I had stayed in the scheme and it was another key reason for me opting to move the full pension to a SIPP and take a flexible drawdown.
Yes, I moved the full pension to a SIPP and then withdrew the full 25% tax free lump sum when Rachel Reeves started hinting about a cash grab.
And then what did you do with the 25% TFC ?? Dont tell me it's in deposit account or PB's !
I took my 25% tax free cash from my SIPP last year and am very pleased I did. If Labour stay in government they will most likely be coming for it sooner or later. I voted Labour but it could be a very expensive vote.
It's one of the few times I wish I was a couple of years older, still 2 years 3 months and 15 days until I can get my tax free lump sum out!!
So I have an old final salary pension as well as my current work pension. I was in it for 13 years, I’m 57 so could take this but was hanging on until I’m 60. Would it be a good idea to take this now & guarantee my 25% lump sum , what with all the uncertainties ?!
You could do. What is the normal retirement age for the scheme ? I'd expect there to be penalties/actuarial reductions if you took it early. If the retirement age was 60 then you might only lose 10-12% of the lump sum. If it was 65 it might not be worth it.
Always good to get an annual statement of its current value & options to take it early.
A simple point, but a very crucial one. Whilst I could retire at 55 and take my pension, my old DB scheme had a built in retirement age of 60. They would have reduced my annual pension by 20% (4% for every year to 60) if I had stayed in the scheme and it was another key reason for me opting to move the full pension to a SIPP and take a flexible drawdown.
Yes, I moved the full pension to a SIPP and then withdrew the full 25% tax free lump sum when Rachel Reeves started hinting about a cash grab.
May well come back and bite me on the ar$e, but I’m relatively relaxed about this at the moment. Struggling to see how they could penalise people who have retired and essentially put in a 20/30 year plan to manage their pensions, which is what successive governments have wanted. Potentially, I could see some changes to the rules going forward with pensions not yet taken.
I admire your bravery!! It used to be higher, 25% with no limit wasn’t it?
Yes. But I think the real question is how soon could such changes be enacted?
Is it possible to do immediately at the budget or from the next tax year for example!? Presumably the pension industry need some notice to change / amend systems and processes. Maybe I’m being too optimistic but I recall from my own career white/green papers etc before new legislation announced at a budget get enacted?
We used to anticipate project spend to follow up on budget items.
I may be too optimistic as I haven’t taken my full tax free sum yet. 😉
It certainly wouldn't be immediately and most likely from the next tax year.....so April 2026. The IHT change doesn't come into effect until 2027 so you might have a similar time frame.
And remember, when the LTA was reduced (from £2m to £1.5m and then to £1.25m) protections were put into place so that those already at those levels wouldn't be affected.
I took my 25% tax free cash from my SIPP last year and am very pleased I did. If Labour stay in government they will most likely be coming for it sooner or later. I voted Labour but it could be a very expensive vote.
It's one of the few times I wish I was a couple of years older, still 2 years 3 months and 15 days until I can get my tax free lump sum out!!
So I have an old final salary pension as well as my current work pension. I was in it for 13 years, I’m 57 so could take this but was hanging on until I’m 60. Would it be a good idea to take this now & guarantee my 25% lump sum , what with all the uncertainties ?!
You could do. What is the normal retirement age for the scheme ? I'd expect there to be penalties/actuarial reductions if you took it early. If the retirement age was 60 then you might only lose 10-12% of the lump sum. If it was 65 it might not be worth it.
Always good to get an annual statement of its current value & options to take it early.
A simple point, but a very crucial one. Whilst I could retire at 55 and take my pension, my old DB scheme had a built in retirement age of 60. They would have reduced my annual pension by 20% (4% for every year to 60) if I had stayed in the scheme and it was another key reason for me opting to move the full pension to a SIPP and take a flexible drawdown.
Yes, I moved the full pension to a SIPP and then withdrew the full 25% tax free lump sum when Rachel Reeves started hinting about a cash grab.
And then what did you do with the 25% TFC ?? Dont tell me it's in deposit account or PB's !
S&S ISA's for me & wife over 2 tax years, some on deposit with top paying gross interest, paying for an expensive wedding.
I took my 25% tax free cash from my SIPP last year and am very pleased I did. If Labour stay in government they will most likely be coming for it sooner or later. I voted Labour but it could be a very expensive vote.
It's one of the few times I wish I was a couple of years older, still 2 years 3 months and 15 days until I can get my tax free lump sum out!!
So I have an old final salary pension as well as my current work pension. I was in it for 13 years, I’m 57 so could take this but was hanging on until I’m 60. Would it be a good idea to take this now & guarantee my 25% lump sum , what with all the uncertainties ?!
You could do. What is the normal retirement age for the scheme ? I'd expect there to be penalties/actuarial reductions if you took it early. If the retirement age was 60 then you might only lose 10-12% of the lump sum. If it was 65 it might not be worth it.
Always good to get an annual statement of its current value & options to take it early.
A simple point, but a very crucial one. Whilst I could retire at 55 and take my pension, my old DB scheme had a built in retirement age of 60. They would have reduced my annual pension by 20% (4% for every year to 60) if I had stayed in the scheme and it was another key reason for me opting to move the full pension to a SIPP and take a flexible drawdown.
Yes, I moved the full pension to a SIPP and then withdrew the full 25% tax free lump sum when Rachel Reeves started hinting about a cash grab.
May well come back and bite me on the ar$e, but I’m relatively relaxed about this at the moment. Struggling to see how they could penalise people who have retired and essentially put in a 20/30 year plan to manage their pensions, which is what successive governments have wanted. Potentially, I could see some changes to the rules going forward with pensions not yet taken.
I admire your bravery!! It used to be higher, 25% with no limit wasn’t it?
Yes. But I think the real question is how soon could such changes be enacted?
Is it possible to do immediately at the budget or from the next tax year for example!? Presumably the pension industry need some notice to change / amend systems and processes. Maybe I’m being too optimistic but I recall from my own career white/green papers etc before new legislation announced at a budget get enacted?
We used to anticipate project spend to follow up on budget items.
I may be too optimistic as I haven’t taken my full tax free sum yet. 😉
It certainly wouldn't be immediately and most likely from the next tax year.....so April 2026. The IHT change doesn't come into effect until 2027 so you might have a similar time frame.
And remember, when the LTA was reduced (from £2m to £1.5m and then to £1.25m) protections were put into place so that those already at those levels wouldn't be affected.
And that’s what I’m relying on with mine. If changes do affect my tax-free element my advisor is ready to crystallise it for me. Decisions then to be made about how to invest/spend it 😊
I took my 25% tax free cash from my SIPP last year and am very pleased I did. If Labour stay in government they will most likely be coming for it sooner or later. I voted Labour but it could be a very expensive vote.
It's one of the few times I wish I was a couple of years older, still 2 years 3 months and 15 days until I can get my tax free lump sum out!!
So I have an old final salary pension as well as my current work pension. I was in it for 13 years, I’m 57 so could take this but was hanging on until I’m 60. Would it be a good idea to take this now & guarantee my 25% lump sum , what with all the uncertainties ?!
You could do. What is the normal retirement age for the scheme ? I'd expect there to be penalties/actuarial reductions if you took it early. If the retirement age was 60 then you might only lose 10-12% of the lump sum. If it was 65 it might not be worth it.
Always good to get an annual statement of its current value & options to take it early.
A simple point, but a very crucial one. Whilst I could retire at 55 and take my pension, my old DB scheme had a built in retirement age of 60. They would have reduced my annual pension by 20% (4% for every year to 60) if I had stayed in the scheme and it was another key reason for me opting to move the full pension to a SIPP and take a flexible drawdown.
Yes, I moved the full pension to a SIPP and then withdrew the full 25% tax free lump sum when Rachel Reeves started hinting about a cash grab.
And then what did you do with the 25% TFC ?? Dont tell me it's in deposit account or PB's !
I’m not having anyone on here dis the premium bonds!!! 😂 (but I do agree really……)
Comments
We used to anticipate project spend to follow up on budget items.
And remember, when the LTA was reduced (from £2m to £1.5m and then to £1.25m) protections were put into place so that those already at those levels wouldn't be affected.