Accessing Your Pension Advice for Maidstone
The age at which personal pension benefits can be taken will increase from 50 to 55 from 6thApril 2010. If are over 50 now and you need cash this may be your last opportunity until age 55.
The state retirement age remains at 65 for men and 60 for women. However for women this will increase from 60 to 65 gradually between 2010 and 2020 depending on your date of birth.
When you retire you can normally take up to 25% of the value of your personal pension fund as a tax free cash lump sum.
The remainder of your pension fund must then be used to purchase an Income. But you do not need to draw this income at the same time as you draw your cash.
An annuity will provide a guaranteed income for the rest of your life. But there are other options. The amount of income the provider offers you will depend on the value of your fund, the options you take with your Annuity Advice and your personal status such as gender and age.
There are a wide variety of options so when you are at the stage of wanting to take an income from your pension fund seek Facts & Figures' expert advice before making any decisions.
If the value of all your pension assets is below 1% of the lifetime allowance then you can withdraw all of the assets as a cash lump sum after the age of 60. In 2009/10 the lifetime allowance is £1,750,000 and so if all of your pension assets are worth less than £17,500 and you are over 60 years of age then you could just withdraw this amount as a lump sum. However only 25% of the total sum will be paid out tax free, the remaining 75% will be taxed as normal income although it will be paid as a lump sum.
You may be eligible for an impaired life annuity if you are unwell or a smoker.
Facts & Figures are pension experts and there are many different types of pension, follow the links to find out more or Contact Us now for further information
