7 Pension Release Rules to consider – so YOU don’t lose out.

pension release rules Why do we pay into a pension? Put simply – we do it because we want our future to be secure.

We want to be able to enjoy life after we’ve retired, to live in comfort and afford things we enjoy.

After all, when you worked so hard during your years of employment, you deserve to enjoy your time of retirement.

Paying into a pension plan, as we all know, is intended to make your life in retirement more comfortable. It’s your future – you deserve to enjoy it!

We all know that the state pension is no longer enough to bring you the financial security that you want in retirement, and hardly a day goes by that we are told that we are not saving enough for our retirement.

That’s why your choices become more complicated if you reach a point in your life when you start to consider if you can release some of your pension funds before you retire.

Your retirement date when you can take your full pension is normally set by the rules of your personal or works pension normally 60 or 65, in some instances you can elect to take your pension earlier provided you are over 55. One of your options is to access your tax free lump sum up to 25% of your pension pot, whatever you want that money for is up to you.

You might want it for a special holiday, or to treat yourself to something after which you’ve hankered for a while. You might want to invest it somewhere else; you might need to do some work to your home, like getting someone like Absolute Mobility in to help make your bathroom more accessible. Or you might simply need it to help you out financially for a while. It’s worth thinking long and hard about.

It’s also worth doing properly. There are important factors to consider before you make any firm decisions regarding releasing your pension – and to be fully informed.

Pension Release Rules To Consider…

1. In order to qualify, pension release rules state that you must be 55 years old or over, unless your scheme allows early release due to severe medical reasons, like a terminal illness.

2. 25% of your total pensions – including any that you haven’t paid into for a while (ie. from a previous job) can be released as a tax free lump sum (you’re liable to income tax for anything beyond 25%).

3. You may come across unregulated pension companies advising you to release money from your pension before 55. They are looking to exploit loopholes in the rules, meaning funds released will come with high charges and taxation and should be avoided at all costs.

4. If you have more than one pension, you can only release 25% of the total pensions tax free.

5. If you are in receipt of means tested benefit this might be affected if you take cash from your pension.

6. You can release cash from a pension that you are not currently paying in to – so if you have an old company pension that you haven’t paid into for years, it is still available for pension release.

7. Pension release will have a damaging effect on your potential retirement income and a less financially comfortable retirement. As well as reducing your pension pot, taking cash out of your pension fund early could mean losing ill health or death benefits along with any investment benefits that the sum may have accrued.

It’s true that you really need to think long and hard about the effects of early pension withdrawal later in life. And that’s just one of the reasons that you should ensure that you get the best unbiased and fully independent advice regarding pension release rules.

At The London Investor we have everything in place to make sure that you can make the most of your pension after 55 – getting a tax-free lump sum when you need it and for whatever you need it for. You’ll get the best advice available from experienced pension professionals – people who know finance inside-out and care about what happens to you and your money.

Put simply, The London Investor get things right. When it comes to releasing money from your pension early, we ready to listen to you and help shape your finances and your future for the better.

Now surely that’s worth thinking about?

By Becky Barnet|Pensions|0 Comments

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The London Investor