to not want to put money in DH pension and not mine?

Nope.No.Non.

No. He can specify beneficiaries and the pension scheme can allocate according to that

or he can give it to someone else via his will

Even if you are in his will, wills can easily be changed and you would have no way of knowing

You're welcome. The other thing to point out too is that if you do not receive an income from employment you are limited to a contribution of £3600 gross / £2880 net p.a. in your name, so if you are considering a lump sum greater than this, you will be limited to what you can do in your own name.

I'd want to speak to an independent financial adviser before making a decision like that. Fair enough you may get half his pension if you divorce. What if he dies? Are you certain you're the beneficiary of his pension in that circumstance? Does he treat all money as family money now? I'm thinking, if you don't divorce, will he allow you equal access to the pension annuity when it comes time for claiming it?

If he’s already close to £1m, I’d be worried about them re-instating the lifetime allowance.

If he wants to retire at 55, I’d just invest the money elsewhere. Then you can build a sum to take from earlier.

He is correct in that the income tax benefit of contributing to his pension will be greater. The gross roll up will increase the value. However, there are further factors to consider than this. Firstly, the new lump sum allowance is £268,275 meaning that in the absence of transitional protection, any benefit beyond this would be taxable at HIS marginal rate.

Secondly, how old and how is his life expectancy? If he is beyond 75, the pot is taxable on his beneficiaries, whereas if you are younger with a longer life expectancy, it may be more tax efficient for your beneficiaries to hold it in your name.

Next, a personal contribution will be subject to the annual allowance of £60,000 which may cause him issues - although carry forward may change this picture slightly.

Lastly, the previous chancellor removed the lifetime allowance, although lump sum tax free benefits remain capped. There are several rumours of pension reform circulating, meaning that the budget could render current planning unsuitable. Maybe hang off until after we find out how much our new chancellor wants to attack our retirement provision.

Seek financial advice from an adviser with no affiliation to St James Place and also consider whether how much you see your finances as a joint enterprise and of course how much you trust your husband to manage joint finances fairly.

If he has close to 1m then it makes no sense to pay more into his. You both need to priortise your pension.

Wait until the budget and then get separate and joint financial advice about the best thing to do to maximise it all

Yes proper financial and legal advice is crucial as lots of variables and potential for rule changes so tricky waters to navigate.

also you need to look at pension planning holistically - will you both get full state pension? Will you both own the house mortgage free or will you need to rent?

also whilst you are in theory entitled to his pension in divorce from what I can see of friends it’s so bloody difficult and take years to actually get your hands on it as men hold on to them tightly that many just give up or accept a paltry amount in order to get housing sorted for the kids. It’s also such a technical area the legal fees are huge so I know a few women who have just called it a day and walked away. Bird in the hand worth 2 in the bush and all that

Not a chance I"d do this. Makes more sense that he pays more into your pension.

I’d be uncomfortable too especially if you’re used to having your own money. So he wants to live off you build up a big pension pot then cut down your pension further by getting 25% out. In theory you should be entitled to some of his pension in the event of divorce but it’s not always clear cut and the divorce courts don’t always seem fair tbh. I wouldn’t risk it personally.

Easy on the no chance comments. Op, many committed couples arrange finances between them to minimise tax. It’s not suspicious to want ti do this. However, it is his pension vs yours. If he hasn’t always been great at sharing or you don’t feel solid it’s understandable to want to prioritise yours.

we currently pay all the extra into my pension, as it’s better for tax and I’m running out of my extra contributions capacity. We will switch to dhs then. (Not in the uk)

No chance in hell, what if you divorce?

You need to do some proper planning with an adviser! What happens if your DH passes away before you? Will the pension switch to you? If so, and big if, it’ll be 50% of his payments. There are many ways you could do this but you need proper advice that protects you both in the most tax efficient way.

No - aside from your financial independence, it’s a bad strategy from a tax / investment perspective.

• the tax free amount is capped at something like £250k and at £1m your DH will have maxed it out. It’s better tax planning to now build your pension to £1m. Also when you come to draw down an income you want to maximise draw down at the lower income tax rates
• I would also check no IHT on the pension would be imposed if your DH dies (Labour might change the rules on pensions being exempt from IHT, though I think maybe no IHT between spouses?).
• Also Labour might re-introduce the cap in which case your DH pension would be frozen effectively to avoid the punitive tax charge whilst the money could have been in your pension accruing investment gains.
• what if your DH dies and wills it to someone else? Your retirement plans would be screwed. I would not take that kind of risk (even if you view it as remote currently - might not be that you fall out he might just feel strongly he wants to help out your kids)
• if your husband decides to buy an annuity at retirement it goes with his death (unless he specifies you as a beneficiary - you get a lot less though I think and I have read most men go for the higher rate whilst they are alive!)
• if you divorce much cleaner if you have roughly equal pensions

With those amounts involved you should be taking financial advice on tax, estate planning etc. I am no expert but the above are the questions I would be wanting answers for.

it’s a no brainer to me to equalise pensions as takes it off the table if any relationship issues down the line

my pension is significantly higher than my husbands and we contribute more to his to try to equalise by retirement

This actually isn’t a bad idea from a financial planning perspective but if you’re not comfortable with it don’t do it. If you got divorced you’d get some of his pension anyway.

edit to add - I misread your post about which tax band you’re in. Is he older than you? If so it sort of makes sense because he can get the tax free cash sooner but it’s more marginal if you’d be getting 40% relief anyway. I’d also wait until the budget before bothering to thrash this out.

It’s highly doubtful that any tax advantage he gets will remain after the budget anyway (imo of course, no one knows for certain)
Tax advantages might continue for lower earners but it’s been widely touted as a loophole in the firing line to be closed in a week or two

This

This.

My main concern would be having access to his pension if he dies.