|
Jul 2020
9:07am, 10 Jul 2020
84 posts
|
Snoot
Angus - I took a 25yr endowment out when I was 18 so 36 yrs ago based on the wild promises of the man from the ... We topped it up a few years later when buying a house. Fortunately when we moved we were in the position to swap to a repayment mortgage and ended up cashing in the endowments when they were still just above break even!
|
|
Jul 2020
9:23am, 10 Jul 2020
74 posts
|
bja61
Baz, you say that your wife"left a good pension scheme" if you mean that she transferred her benefits out of a defined benefit scheme then please get some advice, especially if she was still employed by the same employer. Sales practices were very shoddy at some times historically and she may be due some help.
|
|
Jul 2020
9:28am, 10 Jul 2020
50,881 posts
|
Diogenes
I have various pensions with various providers. I'd like to try and combine at least some of them, but it's not that easy. I got as far as getting letters of authority for an IFA for all of them but then he did nothing with it. I guess there was nothing in it for him. I imagine it should be possible to do it oneself, but how to assess which is the best one(s) to go with? Two years until I could potentially draw down some funds.
|
|
Jul 2020
9:28am, 10 Jul 2020
75 posts
|
bja61
It is interesting that the experience of Flexible drawdown since it was introduced is that very few people have blown on the pot on George Osborne's famous Maserati. if anything, on average people are drawing too little and leaving themselves struggling more than necessary in retirement. This could be because of caution and not wanting to run out, or because any balance when you die passes to your estate and people want to leave a legacy.
|
|
Jul 2020
9:29am, 10 Jul 2020
76 posts
|
bja61
I'll get off my hobby horse now!
|
|
Jul 2020
9:29am, 10 Jul 2020
35,560 posts
|
HappyG(rrr)
Snoot, there were opportunities to get compensation for some of this mis-sold endowments at one time, I think, weren't there? Hope you get some compensation? Don't know if that applies if you've already cashed it in?
I got a great review from a financial guy a while ago which basically said, tough not much you can do about it all. Loads of tiny little amounts with about 6 different providers amounting to a whole heap of nothing!
I have 3 years missing when I am sure I was contributing to a probably private, work scheme pot. I have tried the Govt Pension finder, the company itself (or those who bought it out) and a couple of possible providers who it might have been and drawn a blank. Any other suggestions for how to find a missing pension?  G
|
|
Jul 2020
9:37am, 10 Jul 2020
26,947 posts
|
HellsBells
I have a very good pension given that I was part time for the last 20 years. I just can’t get my hands on it as one organisation won’t transfer some information to another. It’s tedious.
I was thinking about replacing our windows when I finally get it - 40 year old frames, single glazed - at least by having to wait it seems the government might want to pay something towards double glazing
|
|
Jul 2020
9:43am, 10 Jul 2020
2,902 posts
|
um
HappyG - do you know anyone else who worked there at or around the time to see if they have details?
Or a trawl through all your paperwork/files? I was surprised to find I actually did have a 'leaving pension' statement from when I changed jobs in 1988 buried away in a general filing box.
|
|
Jul 2020
9:46am, 10 Jul 2020
77 posts
|
bja61
Snoot, HappyG, many insurance firms also offered some form of guarantee as part of the endowment mis-selling remediation. If you have an endowment that is still in force it is worth asking them if you had one of these guarantees, and then making sure you stick precisely to the terms (eg don't miss any premiums!)
|
|
Jul 2020
9:51am, 10 Jul 2020
78 posts
|
bja61
HappyG, re your small pots - there may things you can do depending on how small they are. Once you have reached age 55 you can take up to 3 small pots of up to £10,000 in cash. you will pay income tax on the amount withdrawn though. The challenge comes when the balance is a bit over £10k but not by much, then you need to start combining, but most firms won't do this unless the total is over £100k as the costs far outweigh any future income they will make from you.
|
