With just weeks until the Budget, I have decided to take a tax-free lump sum from my pension. I don’t know what Chancellor Rachel Reeves has up her sleeve, but I wanted to take advantage of current rules just in case she changes them – and the timing is right for me.
I would like to put in a luxury bathroom to make my home fit for later life, and need the cash to do it.
I’d had savings, but spent nearly every penny I had scraped together for my home improvements when a relative needed life-or-death heart surgery. The NHS waiting list was six months long, while the surgeon’s private waiting list was just six weeks – I didn’t think twice.
The operation was a success, and I could turn my mind again to home improvements. But I was in a race against time to get the cash by the Budget on November 26 – just to be on the safe side. And it proved much harder than I ever imagined.
Although I agonised for months over whether to take a lump sum, it now looks like that was the easy bit. Getting hold of the cash was the greater challenge.
I went on the app of my pension provider, Standard Life, to request the withdrawal. Not possible! I had to phone.
I was passed between departments and eventually told that, like hundreds and thousands of workers, I had a stakeholder pension, the precursor to the modern auto-enrolment pension options.
Stephanie Hawthorne says: I have decided to take a tax-free lump sum from my pension. Although I agonised for months over whether to take a lump sum, it now looks like that was the easy bit. Getting hold of the cash was the greater challenge
That meant that, before I could even think about taking the lump sum, I would have to transfer the whole pension into a new personal pension.
Standard Life said I may find one with lower fees elsewhere, but I was impatient and I just wanted to get the whole process done and dusted. Perhaps I’ll switch provider next year, as charges can make a big difference to the size of your pension.
The call, in which I was passed between three departments, took two hours and 17 minutes.
I ate my lunch and my tea during the process. Stupidly I used a 0345 number rather than a free 0800 number – I dread to think what it’s done to this month’s phone bill.
I was a member of two final salary pensions, which added to the complexity and timing.
But the greatest part of the delay was because I decided not to take formal regulated advice before accessing my pension, so my provider forced me to go through a lengthy guidance process, presumably to check I knew what I was doing.
I had to put up with a barrage of endless regulatory information, which started to sound like drivel to my poor head.
I wish I could have signed a waiver, saying I fully understood consequences of my actions and had read the literature.
I also had to fill out a form about the transaction, which included a stern admonition that giving false information could lead to a £3,000 fine from HMRC.
I would never give incorrect details on purpose, but there is so much jargon involved I can see how it would be easy to slip up by accident.
Meanwhile, the stock market seemed to be hitting record highs every day, so I was getting nervous about when to take the tax-free lump sum, as I also needed to sell some investments to turn them into cash. The amount I got would depend on the value of those investments on the day the transaction was completed.
I hope the Chancellor does not abolish the tax-free lump sum because few people would otherwise have the chance to have such a large amount of cash
On the day I asked to take my lump sum, the FTSE 100 hit another record high – and I wanted to lock in that level.
But I was lucky, and the markets continued to rise. My money finally arrived on October 31, but the 20-day lag from October 10 caused me a lot of worry.
If you want to take yours, make sure you leave time to go through the process. If your experience is anything like mine, it could take days or even weeks.
Pensions partner Penny Cogher at law firm Irwin Mitchell says: ‘Pension providers are not the fastest of organisations at the best of times, and, overall, they tend to be understaffed.’
Experts say that although everyone’s circumstances are different, for most people it makes sense to leave your cash to grow in a pension tax-free until you really need it. Rash decisions based on rumours ahead of the Budget are unlikely to pay off – unless, like me, you plan to take the cash anyway. The decision is irreversible.
The number of people taking theirs has rocketed. It grew by more than 60 per cent in the six months to March.
Such large volumes suggest to me that some people are making hasty decisions that may leave them with a lifetime of regrets. It’s not a decision to rush.
I hope the Chancellor does not abolish the tax-free lump sum because few people would otherwise have the chance to have such a large amount of cash.
I’m looking forward to being able to splash out a bit using the money I’ve worked so hard to save, and think everyone should be able to enjoy the same.
- Stephanie Hawthorne is a former editor of Pensions World.
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