Please tell me I am not the only oldish person without a pension plan

[QuentinLettsisAbitofAtool]

Not a TAAT well it is a bit but sod it

I'm having a bit of a panic attack brought on by the MN survey about pensions. I don't have one, have a big mortgage, not due any parental inheritances and am in my 50s.

Please tell me I'm not alone as that might make me feel less dumb!

Oh and I put "oldish" in the thread title because I mean old in terms of a pension. Twenty somethings who don't have a pension don't fit my criteria!

Talkinpeece Thanks for your speedy response! Yes I’m unsure if an ISA is better go with APCs (not AVCs as I incorrectly put in post).

madnessIsay

LGPS AVC's have one stand out benefit that many aren't aware of. The AVC is counted as part of the main pension if you take them both at the same time.

What this means in practice is that the whole of the AVC can be taken tax free if less than 25% of the total pot value. The calculation used is 20 x your main pension value + AVC (plus any lump sum payable if you were a member of the 2008 scheme?).

In simple terms if you were going to £5k per annum from your pension and had saved up to £31k in the AVC you could take the entire £31k tax free.

These rules may change in the future but as they are now this is a great perk.

flummoxed
I have learned something new (and DEEPLY COOL)
I am no longer an LGPS employee but I advise LGPS employers and can see that for certain situations, that is a REALLY good option for some of their older staff
thank you

Talkinpeece

It's so low key even some local LGPS Admins aren't aware of it. I had a long winded email exchange last year with local Admins and had to get the national scheme Admin to tell them they were wrong.