I’m in my very very late 50s (won’t be on Saturday though) and a few pension plans I took out years ago were due to pay out at 60. I’ve a few more that are due to “mature” at 65.

Making a few phone calls to Standard Life, Aegon, Clerical Medical, I find that there’s no such thing as maturing, and I can choose to keep my funds in there (I’m not paying any more into those, and haven’t done for a few years) or buy an annuity.

I’m not really in need of the income at the moment as I haven’t retired, and don’t really expect to for several years.

Some companies are keeping my share in a with profits fund, some in a cash fund and I’ve got no idea what’s good and what’s bad.

Where can I go to get sensible advice, and maybe to get an understanding of how to interpret all these numbers.

Radio 5 are talking about this right now and probably available as a podcast later. (Shelagh Fogarty show).
Main thing to know is you can shop around for your annuity when time is right. So you get best rate regardless of who the cash is tied up with.

Doh, missed that. I’ll look on Money Saving Expert later to see what the man says.

Generally Annuity rates are falling as people are living longer, so the long term trend would suggest taking one early as you will get a better rate. However, short term affects eg Quantitative Easing have also reduced rates, but they will probably recover from this at some point in the next few years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jul/05/quantitative-easing-affect-annuities-pensions-inflation

One other factor is if there is anything medical you have which might mean you could die earlier eg had lung Cancer etc, then it’s definitely worth looking at specialists who will give you a better rate as odds are you will die younger than a healthy person. Buying an annuity is the one time where being a 60 a day smoker is actually beneficial…

try independent IFA (*you probably have to pay nowdays)

internet on:
– 25% of entire pot tax free after after 55
– drawdown/flexible drawdown
*annuities are crepe just now – see drawdown

(my bloke is suggesting I do 25% tax free, then in a while start doing drawdown and then as I get older (age increases annuity rates) split into drawdown/annuity –

Find a IFA near you via http://www.unbiased.co.uk/

You’ll pay a fee now-a-days thanks to changes in our regulations (in my opinion not necessarily a bad thing). Drawdown is expensive and you’ll incurre setup costs as you’ve got a number of seperate schemes at the moment – the amount of drawdown you can take is linked to annuity rates, so you’ll not necessarily get more via this route, BUT you retain control of your funds and you can pass the funds on, on your death which you may not be able to do with an annuity (depends on options chosen at outset). Drawdown is very flexible, where annuities are not…

An IFA will be able to talk you though all of your options and point you in the best direction for your circumstances.

Can I buy a Drawdown off the peg or is it something an IFA has to set up for me?

You need advice – this is a very complex area; you’re setting up your income and financial security for the rest of your life – that’s worth getting right and paying to get right…if the IFA gets it wrong they are covered by insurance to compensate you – if you get it worng you have no one to fall back on.

Hmmm, this must be serious. It’s the only asking for advice thread I’ve ever seen where somebody hasn’t come charging in with “get one of these because it’s what I’ve got” or Conti Vert Pro.

I’ll phone a couple of local IFAs then.

Have a look at the Hargreaves Lansdown website, there’s a lot of good stuff on there. Yes, they may make money from you if you use them as brokers, but the options are explained clearly.