In the UK, there is the option to delay taking your state pension, officially called State Pension Deferral, in order to receive either a larger pension or a lump sum payment. You can defer your State Pension regardless of whether you continue working or not. As an example, if you agree to start drawing your [...]

I’ve been doing a lot of research into personal pension charges, so I decided to look at charges on the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST). There’s an 0.3% annual management charge (AMC). I was surprised to learn that there’s also an 1.8% contribution charge (CC). That means for every £100 paid into your NEST pension [...]

I’d love to see a radical overhaul and simplification of UK personal pensions, which are currently far too complex and weighted toward the interests of the financial services industry and higher rate taxpayers. I’ll be able to access my stakeholder pension next year. I couldn’t believe that I won’t have the option of a taking [...]

I was drawn into starting a personal pension for two reasons. I’m self employed, so it’s the only pension option open to me and I’d get 20% tax relief on my pension contributions (as I’m a basic rate taxpayer). Getting that 20% boost makes a personal pension sound like a no brainer. Annual charges on [...]

With the introduction of auto-enrolment of UK employees into the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) and my own predicament of trying to plan retirement with a stakeholder pension, I’ve been thinking many people with defined contribution pensions (stakeholder, personal or NEST pensions) deserve to have some minimum payment guarantee for their pensions. Employees with a [...]

I’ve been looking at the proposals for changes to UK state pensions in 2017, as they mean that I’d have to pay at minimum of 35 years of National Insurance Contributions (NICs), instead of the current 30 years, to qualify for a full state pension. As I’m self employed, I pay two different types of [...]

The proposed changes to the UK State Pension in 2007 include an increase from 30 to 35 years in the number of years of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) required to receive a full state pension. Upon reading about these changes, I needed to get a State Pension Statement (formerly called a State Pension Forecast) in [...]

I’m paying an annual 0.8% charge to Standard Life for my stakeholder pension. I make monthly contributions by direct debit and  I’ve been in the same investment fund for years. The only action I see from Standard Life is when they send me an annual statement. Even if I did want to change investment funds, [...]

I’ve been investigating the best options for my stakeholder pension. I’ve been prompted into action by the fact that I’ll be able to access my stakeholder pension once I’m 55 next April. I came to the conclusion that I’d like to withdraw the maximum tax free lump sum of 25% of the value of my [...]

Retiring abroad must cross the minds of many UK residents, especially in the middle of Winter. But what are the implications of retiring abroad? Below are seven issues to bear in mind. listen to ‘Retiring Abroad: My Money Podcast #32’ on Audioboo Subscribe to the My Money Podcast from Help Me To Save in iTunes. [...]