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Do you have questions about your pensions? Ask PensionBee’s finance and investment expert Becky O’Connor - £200 voucher to be won

190 replies

CeriMumsnet · 01/02/2023 15:28

Pensions are invaluable for our future financial stability and wellbeing, however it can be hard to feel on top of them or know how best to manage them. To help you out, PensionBee has invited their expert to answer your questions around pensions and saving for the future.

  • Everyone who shares a question on the thread below will be entered into a prize draw.
  • One lucky Mumsnet user will win a £200 voucher
  • Becky will be back online in a few weeks to answer a selection of your questions.

About the expert
Becky O’Connor joined PensionBee in January 2023 as Director of Public Affairs. She’s a Personal Finance and Investment Expert and award-winning Journalist with two decades of experience in journalism and communications. Prior to joining PensionBee, Becky was Head of Pensions at Interactive Investor, and previously acted as a spokesperson for Royal London, the mutual insurer. Becky’s also the Co-Founder of the ethical personal finance website, Good With Money; the Author of a book on sustainable investment, The ESG Investing Handbook, Chair of the Ethical Advisory Committee for Castlefield Investment Management and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Here’s what PensionBee has to say
‘We are a leading online pension provider with a mission to make pensions simple, so that everyone can look forward to a happy retirement. We’ve helped thousands of savers feel pension confident by enabling them to combine, contribute and withdraw from their pension, all in one place.’

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw
MNHQ

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Do you have questions about your pensions? Ask PensionBee’s finance and investment expert Becky O’Connor - £200 voucher to be won
Margrethe · 04/02/2023 17:19

@Bard6817 what does LTA stand for?

Jenn3112 · 04/02/2023 17:56

Is it worth paying for professional advice on pensions if you are only a few years from retirement? (Tried free government service and they weren't helpful.)

Chowtime · 04/02/2023 17:59

I've taken a small tax free amount (not 25%) out of my pension 2 years ago and haven't touched it since. I'm now in a position to pay in extra contributions but can I pay in more than £4000 per year?

VanGoghsDog · 05/02/2023 00:23

Margrethe · 04/02/2023 17:19

@Bard6817 what does LTA stand for?

Lifetime allowance.

Ramblingnamechanger · 05/02/2023 05:10

Any chance of compensation for having misleading or no information about our pensions contributions being stolen from us and our employers? If equality was necessary, why not reduce mens pension age? Millions of women are poorer as a result, and it has had a huge impact on whether they can care for their aged family members/ grand children. Social policy should not be made without full consideration of the wider issues.

Starlightstarbright1 · 05/02/2023 14:15

I was self employed for many years..

I am now employed so in a works pension.

I still.pay into private pension.. would i be better off to pay extra into works pension?

Notformethankyoukindly · 05/02/2023 18:31

Why aren’t you answering, Becky??

Rummikub · 05/02/2023 18:36

⬆️
from the op:

”Becky will be back online in a few weeks to answer a selection of your questions.”

violentknight · 06/02/2023 18:03

I am wary about starting a private pension - no-one can predict the future and I have lost money in the past when I could not afford to maintain a scheme I was talked into. Surely there will be some provision for those that don't have a private pension. I am tempted just to build up capital and use that to supplement whatever is available if/when the time comes. Is that really such a bad idea?

Charcol · 06/02/2023 19:03

IS there a rule or formula to how much to save?
I have been told, to halve the age i start and turn that into a % and continue that for life., as a benchmark. Any truth in it?

Charcol · 06/02/2023 19:03

How do I know a realistic pension pot target? And how to know if on track?

Danikm151 · 06/02/2023 19:06

My workplace only contributes 3% of pension contributions. Is it worth increasing my workplace pension contributions or just invest in private one on top?

Lokiswife · 06/02/2023 19:16

Can I pay into a pension if I'm on benefits?

Isaidnomorecrisps · 06/02/2023 19:58

What are the best books / websites to learn about U.K. pensions?
I don’t want to pay the average 1% fee to an SFA. I’m a qualified finance professional (two qualifications), age early 50s, and want to teach myself.
If you genuinely think this is the wrong thing to do I would be grateful for recommendations on what the sensible thing is to do. My pot is approaching the current LTA and is in 7 pension schemes. Many thanks.

Sunsetintheeast · 06/02/2023 20:35

Bard6817 · 04/02/2023 14:27

Does PensionBee actively highlight the pension via its Lobbying the discrimination that exists between DB and DC schemes and the craziness of the lta level.

Furthermore isn’t there a risk that pensioners who take 35k a year, after 30 years (ignoring inflation on both the amt taken and the lta) will be subject to the Punitive LTA tax rate, when they can least afford it - imagine as a pensioner, your starting tax rate is 45%…. I understand the need for a LtA on the super wealthy, but at the level it’s at now, who can justify punitive tax rates for an 85+ year old on their pension pot when their income finally trips over an ever decreasing or stationary LTa - it encourages emptying the pension pot early - and if a goal is to make state pension means tested - then lta is likely to allow those who spend early qualify for the state pension.

That’s now how the LTA works!

Sunsetintheeast · 06/02/2023 20:40

DemonHost · 03/02/2023 18:50

What is the order of events with TFPLS and LTA?

e.g. If someone retired with a DC pension pot of £4million, could they crystallize the lot, take a £1million Tax Free Lump Sum, then have a Life Time Allowance calculation on the remainder, meaning an approx. £750k tax bill (25% on the £3million) then take the remainder (approx. £2.25 million) as taxable income over the coming years?

Or would the LTA come first, meaning a £1million tax bill, then a £750k TFLS?

Tax free cash is limited to 25% of the LTA (protected or not) The excess pays the full tax charge.

The tax is triggered by a BCE - benefit crystallisation event and once you use 100% then the balance pays the excess charge.

Bard6817 · 06/02/2023 21:13

Are you saying that pensioners won’t pay punitive tax rates (essentially an additional 25% tax) when their crystallised pot is emptied? That’s my point Because i believe they will and belive that to be a particularly cruel form of taxation that will capture hundreds of thousands in the future due to compounded inflation, whereas it’s only a few thousand today and on pats that are considered by many to be a lot.

Lostincyberspace · 06/02/2023 21:25

I have never stayed in a job longer than 8 years, I'm 52 and have a few pensions - would it be better for me to put them in one place? I'm quite worried about my pension position as I've never built up a large pot anywhere.

Pouffeycat · 06/02/2023 21:34

I started back at work at 47.
Low pay. I put the maximum I can to be matched by my employer.
My pension statement says that if I work to pensionable age I will get about £1000 a year.
Would I be better off putting the money into a savings/stock/shares ISA?

Theimpossiblegirl · 06/02/2023 21:34

How does striking affect pensions?

Sunsetintheeast · 06/02/2023 21:37

Bard6817 · 06/02/2023 21:13

Are you saying that pensioners won’t pay punitive tax rates (essentially an additional 25% tax) when their crystallised pot is emptied? That’s my point Because i believe they will and belive that to be a particularly cruel form of taxation that will capture hundreds of thousands in the future due to compounded inflation, whereas it’s only a few thousand today and on pats that are considered by many to be a lot.

It’s paid at 75, it’s not about your crystalised pot being depleted. You also pay it on the growth you’ve not withdrawn and spent… best get spending.

Bard6817 · 06/02/2023 22:22

I can quote you 9 more BCE’s. Some of which are also true.

But the point is that it’s a punitive tax rate of an extra 25% on some people who have retired.

Sunsetintheeast · 06/02/2023 22:29

Bard6817 · 06/02/2023 22:22

I can quote you 9 more BCE’s. Some of which are also true.

But the point is that it’s a punitive tax rate of an extra 25% on some people who have retired.

If you’re so well informed why get the detail incorrect in your first question then? Surely adding inaccuracies makes it seem like you don’t really understand? 85 year olds will not be paying the LTA charge as there is no more testing after 75 regardless of pot size or how much you take. It’s PAYE rates only.

purplepandas · 06/02/2023 22:33

How do you know whether workplace or private pensions are best please? M good with money but I just cannot grasp pension stuff.

VanGoghsDog · 07/02/2023 00:38

Theimpossiblegirl · 06/02/2023 21:34

How does striking affect pensions?

In a final salary pension each strike day reduces your service by a day.

In a defined contribution, it depends if the employer uses actual pay for the percentage contribution, or notional pay.