Pension advice - can I take out a lump sum?

[WhiteOrange]

I have a superannuated pension with the nhs . Is it possible to take a lump sum out of the money I have accumulated?

You don’t accumulate an amount, you earn years in the scheme. But you can take a lump sum on retirement (you can get advice about whether taking a larger lump sum and then having a smaller annual amount suits your circumstances better. You can’t take anything early and it doesn’t work like a ‘pension pot’.

You would need to ask your personal pension provider the date that you would be able to access your pension money. I know some people who have had access at 50 & 60

The NHS scheme is not a pension pot.
You get certain lump sums on retirement
but the ads on the telly do not apply to defined benefit schemes

55 is the age at which you can draw down on a personal pension in the UK. You can usually take a lump sum of 25% as tax free cash.

Some final salary or superannuation like the NHS I believe may be different though. You need to contact your provider, or the correct department.

No, certainly not before retirement age. It's a DB scheme, so you're accumulating a yearly payout rather than one lump sum.

You can take your pension which will include a lump sum as part of it, but you cant just take a lump sum as a one off. The age you can take full benefits depends on which of the 3 NHS pension schemes you are in, but unless you are at or very close to retirement age, your benefits will be reduced on a sliding scale (you'll lose more the younger you are).

ta1kinpeace is right, schemes such as the NHS one are not actual pension pots. That is why they are different from personal pension plans.

Assuming you're on the 2008 or 2015 scheme rather than the 1995 scheme you will be able to commute part of your pension into a lump sum at your normal retirement age (usually 60, but you may be able to take acturially reduced amounts from 55 in some circumstances).

I believe that you can commute £1 of annual pension into £12 lump sum up to 25% of the value of your pension tax free. So, for a 10k lump sum you would lose around £833 pension per year.

How old are you?

The 95 scheme does indeed commute £1 to £12 Clash (I've just done it) you're right. I think the normal retirement age for the 08 scheme is 65 though and for the 15 scheme its 65 or state pension age, so retirement before then would reduce the benefits actuarily.

Thank you, everyone. If I were to opt out of the scheme now, what will happen to the money i have paid in over the years?

You are better off talking to an Independent Financial Adviser to ascertain what, if anything, you can do with this scheme.

How old are you? Are you still paying into the scheme, or have you left it because you are not working for the NHS any longer?

All of those questions will be relevant to the advice you will receive.

It stays there and you get it at the retirement age.

If you go to work for the civil service or local authority you can move it into that scheme I believe but it might not be in your interests.

If you have been in less than two years you can i believe take back your contributions.

If you can afford it, there is nothing stopping you from paying into a private pension plan in addition to the workplace scheme you are in.

If you simply opt out of the scheme now then it will be frozen as it is until the date you retire. Some pension schemes you can transfer to another provider (I don't know about superannuation schemes though), others can be better left.

You really need proper financial advice. That is unlikely to come from here.

If you opt out the pot just sits there

You need to take specialist advice on this - find a pensions advisor

Whiteorange
The contributions you have in the scheme will count towards and index linked pension when you retire
it will be a certain percentage of your average salary while in the NHS

you do not have a pension pot.
you cannot transfer your contributions to another scheme

Please talk to the pensions team at your trust
as DB pensions are NOT like the ones you see advertised

OP, please don't pull out of the scheme without taking advice. The NHS scheme is fantastic value, the like of which most people will never have. Please please don't jeopardise your well funded retirement for a short term cashflow problem unless you have exhausted absolutely every other avenue. You will regret it.

Think very carefully before opting out. Your pension scheme is a fantastic one-better than many others.

Whteorange
If you are really struggling with te contributions, look at the 50:50 version of your scheme
a luxury not available to private pension holders

Thank you all. You are right, I cannot withdraw a one off amount. I have decided to keep the pension as is, and look forward to being of age to use it!

Glad you got sensible answers from your HR team

You need to get information from your own pension provider. It would almost certainly not be in your interests to transfer your money out of the NHS pension scheme into a private scheme. Read all the relevant literature for your NHS pension. It would be unwise to rely on advice from random people on the internet as pension schemes change and random internet people will not know the specifics of your particular scheme.

rtft