Pension Release Frequently Asked Questions
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If you're aged 55 or over with money in a pension that you're not already receiving then you are eligible to receive a tax free cash sum and/or income now. This is not a practical thing to do with an existing employer's pension as you have to opt out of the scheme to access benefits and would lose future contributions.
If you're aged 55 or over with money in a pension that you're not already receiving then you are eligible to receive a tax free cash sum and/or income now.
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This will depend on how much money you have in your pension in the first place; with your permission we'll find this out for you. It will then depend on whether you want to take a cash lump sum or if you're looking for income, or both. You can find out about your pension by completing and returning the enquiry box above.
CASH LUMP SUM – Whilst you can usually release up to 25% of your pension fund Tax Free there are ways in which you can release a little more by drawing down a one-off annual payment without having to continue with an ongoing regular income, although the extra sum could be taxed.
This is an option that wasn't available before April 2006 and may still not be possible with your existing pension. However, there is a way it can be made available to you.
INCOME – How much income you can have from your pension will depend on a number of things, such as your age, health and what death benefits you want included.
You also have a choice about whether to buy what is known as an annuity, or leave your pension fund invested and "draw down" an income each year. When you want to take income from your pension you don't have to take it from the pension plan provider with whom you have been saving. In fact it's probably better that you don't! In other words, you may save through a pension for many years but when you decide you want income from it you can shop around for the best deal. All pension plans include an Open Market Option. This is a 'get-out' clause which gives you the right to have your income paid by a different provider. To put it another way, it means you can and should shop around for the best deal for your money – remember it's your money!
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Unlike some of our competitors we complete all the work ourselves and do not "farm out" some of it to other financial service companies. This means you can feel confident you are dealing with the actual company doing the work and giving the advice – we are directly answerable to you.
We also have permission from The Financial Services Authority (FSA) to advise on BOTH Personal and Company pension schemes; this requires an additional layer of professional qualifications with corresponding robust monitoring structures in place to protect you.
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This is a difficult question to answer without knowing what pension you have or what it is you want to do.
Some pension providers have a charge if you're looking to get cash out early, although most of them don't. Any transfers to a new provider are also going to have setting up charges.
You will not have to pay us anything just to find out what your options are.
With any recommendation we make you will be given the choice to pay for our services via a Fee or by Commission and told upfront in writing exactly what other charges there may be. You are then free to consider in your options in your own home and in your own time before you decide what you're going to do.
If you don't do anything then you don't have to pay us anything.
