Taking Early Pension

[Notstraightkate]

Hi I wonder if anyone can advise, Ive worked for the NHS for 20 years and have a pension with them.
Many moons ago I worked in an office and just before I left I started their pension scheme. I have just received a letter saying its now worth £5k
I am 55 next month and I seem to remember reading somewhere that I can take that 5k now? I could certainly do with it as my car is on its last legs!
Any advice would be gratefully received thanks!

[Notstraightkate]

Thank you, makes abit more sense now.

[Lepetitpiggy]

Yep, mine was a small lump sum and a hundred a month - from 6 years paying into it.

[Whostoblame]

Pensions rules changed in 2015 so you can cash In Pensions as full lump sums now - triviality rules are the old terms. This would fall under a small pot, generally speaking 25% tax free and then 20% at source tax - may pay more or less depending on the years income. Speak to your pension provider, they will have certain rules and documents they will need to send out to you under FCA rules but will talk you through the process

[DynamoKev]

@quicklybeingdrivenmad

Its called commuting a pension on the grounds of triviality, means if the pension is under £30k you can take it as a lump sum from age 55 I believe as it will never be able to provide a decent annunity when you retire, Google pension triviality should bring up some answers

The link I posted will expalin - it's only called commuting a pension on the grounds of triviality for some schemes - for others it's the small pot pension rules.

[quicklybeingdrivenmad]

Its called commuting a pension on the grounds of triviality, means if the pension is under £30k you can take it as a lump sum from age 55 I believe as it will never be able to provide a decent annunity when you retire, Google pension triviality should bring up some answers

[Lepetitpiggy]

I took my teachers pension when I was 55, so pretty sure it's a thing with all pensions?

[Notstraightkate]

Total, as I say I left the company just as they started up the scheme. Must be about 30 years ago.

[BigPaperBag]

£5k a year? Or in total.

[Notstraightkate]

Thankyou! Yes I've tried reading about it but there are so many conflicting articles

[DynamoKev]

I am not a lawyer or pension adviser but I recently did something similar due to Covid and IR35 changes meaning I had no work for a while.
There are rules about it though and it depends on the type of scheme it was -
www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/retirement-choices/the-right-choice-for-me/taking-a-small-pension-as-a-cash-lump-sum

Be careful - there are a lot of crooks posing as helpful companies.