Can I cash in pension after few months?

[driedapricots101]

My work has entered me into a pension scheme and I had no idea until just checked a payslip & saw almost £1k has mounted up. I am leaving said company next month & wondered if I can draw that money down now? We have other private pensions & investments to see us through retirement & could really do with the cash now. I am terrible with checking payslips & had no idea I'd even been paying in or I would have said I didn't want to.. in fact I'm sure I did say that to my boss at the time but my peri-meno mind can't be sure! TIA

It depends on your age. If you’re under 55 then no you can’t but you could transfer your pot into another existing pension. Speak to a financial adviser.

Ah thanks.. I am u55. Have rules changed? I am sure I cashed one in in my twenties in a similar scenario..

At my work you can get back your pension payments if you’ve been there less than 2 years. It’s a really bad idea though as you lose all the employer contributions, so it’s better to leave it there. It will also grow before retirement so you’ll really lose out by taking it now.

It actually depends on the scheme as they will have different rules on refunding contributions. How long have you been contributing?

Remember the £1k will be subject to deviations so you might only see £600 of it.

I've been paying on for a year.. what does AVC stand for?! I think it's a nest pension but honestly I've had no info on it - they've just stuck me into it! Small company, no HR or payroll to speak of..

Why are you annoyed they “just stuck you into it?” It’s a good thing. They’re being responsible. Everyone should be paying into a pension.

As well as being sent your payslips, you should have also received letters (or emails) from the pension scheme. If you're over 21 and earning over £10k pa they have to autoenrol you into a pension so I'm not sure why you seem to be so surprised this has happened.

You can opt out now and not pay further contributions. Contact the pension provider to ask about options for any refund of contributions (and tell them you haven't received any enrolment letters if you really haven't - though I doubt this is the case).

I'm not recommending this BTW- you will lose at least the tax benefit and likely employer contributions too.

It's my first job after a long period out of the workplace & tbh I tend to leave bigger financial planning to my DH who is all over it. As I say we have our long term investments in place and reason I had to go back to ft work was £ was short on a day to day basis so could really do with this little nest egg now, I get how important pensions are but right now we are under some pressure this could really help with. I most def should have kept a closer eye on being enrolled etc - maybe i got an email.. I'll double check! Thanks for all advice.

I'm not annoyed! Where do I say that?

Employers are legally obliged to opt you into a pension scheme. You will have received paperwork about this at the time you started employment.