Hi all, I’ve had a look through the forum and still can’t decide if a stocks and shares LISA is a good option for myself. This year I could put £16k into my cash ISA and the remaining £4k into a S&S, which the government will add £1k. I could expect maybe 7-8% annual growth with a ‘balanced’ portfolio. I would hope to be able to add the £4k each year from now (aged 36) until the paying in cut off of 50. That would mean an accessible pot of £75k plus any growth at 60 years of age. I am a lower rate tax payer and pay into a workplace pension, which I think won’t be worth much at all ..read more

Can any resident LGPS experts cast an eye over these tax-free lump sum calculations please? I am using round figures in this example of £20k annual pension, £32k lump sum and £100k of AVC contributions. My understanding is the maximum tax-free lump sum is 25% of the total of: 20x annual pension + lump sum + AVC’s. In this example that gives a total of £532,000 with a maximum tax-free lump sum of £133,000. Meaning the entire £132,000 lump sum and AVC amounts are tax-free at retirement. My real figures are similarly close to the limits. So I would appreciate assurance or correction around my u ..read more

Hi - I want to raise a complaint against Capita for their ineffectual administration. My wife put them on notice that she was retiring in January and still nothing happening. Does anyone have a link to where the complaint can be raised as it isn't obviously available on their website? Thanks ..read more

Hi, Aged 61, working part-time (talked out of retiring several times), currently in receipt of my private pension.  Looking ahead to see when I can stop working part-time. Therefore I'm turning my attention to the state pension. On the HMRC site it states that I will receive a full state pension of £221.20, and below the headline figure it states that I can no longer improve my forecast. In the NI section it shows I have 43 full contributing years. Which all seems good. However a little further down it correctly states that I have been contracted out for a period of time (from my p ..read more

A very basic query. Please bear with me. Am I correct in my understanding that the MPAA applies as a limitation on payments INTO a pension pot? I am retiring and with no intention to be making any further payments into any pension pots of any kind. Given that am I correct in thinking that the MPAA is not something I need concern myself with? Many thanks.  ..read more

How is the personal savings allowance determined for someone who has retired and receives a pension? When earning, I know that the higher rate tax threshold is £50,270, but once retired if your sole income is from a pension (approx £3300 a month) and a small amount of interest from savings, does that put you as a basic rate, or higher rate tax payer? A net income of £3300 from a pension would be the equivalent of a salary over £52,000 if you were still working ..read more

Back in April 2023, I wrote a thread expressing my surprise that a request by the BP Pension Trustee to BP to support a pension increase above the 5% cap, for the second year running, in an era of immense profits for BP, was declined. This year, BP pensioners were recently informed that a request for a 2% above cap pension increase for the coming year, an attempt to restore in part an 11% drop in the value of pensions over the past two years, was again declined by BP.  Last year I mused about the potential for an above cap increase saying, given BP's giant profits,  “It doe ..read more

Took voluntary severance in July 2020 and was paid £41k before tax and then 40% tax on the £11k over £30k so £4447 tax was paid I believe. I then took a DC pension which was transferred to Aegon and put into drawdown. Just now sorting out claiming my FS pension and they wanted to know how much of the LTA I had used so went back through the paperwork and noticed that although the £4447 was listed in the total amount to be transferred to Aegon it never got paid to Aegon. So assuming this never got claimed back, is it now too late?  ..read more

Does anyone know why the tax code showing on my P60 from the PPF for year ended 5 April 2024 shows 1097L? The tax code on my P60 from the PPF for year ended 5 April 2023 was 1256L and my circumstances haven't changed, so why would the tax code be different? And why would my tax code now appear to be less than the personal tax allowance of £12570? I anticipate putting this question to the PPF and wouldn't be surprised if they say I should ask HMRC, but thought I'd ask here first in case someone could enlighten me. If so, this could be useful to others too, since I doubt I am the only one to exp ..read more

I've submitted my online application to pay voluntary National Insurance contributions. However, I hadn't anticipated that it might take several months, or even up to a year, to receive a response. Additionally, as I'll be relocating for the foreseeable future, I'd like to know the procedure for updating my postal address. Thanks ..read more