Pensions

A pension will provide you with income to live on in retirement.  State benefit schemes offer very limited financial support for old age, although there are numerous other private schemes around that will enable you to grow a larger fund for your future.  

It’s always best to save more money to invest in a pension to enable you to have some funds for your retirement.  We have listed below the different types of pensions available to you.   We are happy to explain these to you in more detail as we know they can be quite confusing.

• Stakeholder Pensions
• Personal Pensions
• Occupational Schemes
• State Pension and Opting Out
• State 2nd Pension

 

Pension Death Benefits

The benefits that are payable on the death of a member of a stakeholder plan or pension plan can differ depending on if death occurs after or before retirement.

Death before retirement before age 75
This is normally paid as a lump sum, and will usually consist of the life assurance (if any) together with accumulated pension fund.

This can be paid out as a lump sum but if it exceeds Lifetime Allowances then any excess is taxed at 55%.
It is important to note that any death benefits do not have to be taken as a lump sum.  Parts of it can be used to be paid into dependents pensions.  Again this is something we can talk to you about as it can be quite confusing!

Death after retirement before 75
As with above, this all depends on what has happened to your pension fund when you retired.  Parts of the pension fund could have been secured or unsecured.  There are many different  elements to this and depends if you have set up how your annuities were to be paid i.e. to provide a dependent’s pension, or lump sums to be paid, or it can even be a combination of both.

Death after retirement after 75
At 75, any fund remaining should be put into a new type of pension called an Alternatively Secure Pension (ASP) or be used to buy an annuity. 

On death, only dependents pensions can be paid this money.  If there are no dependents alive, any of the residual funds can be refunded to the scheme, charity or the employer. 
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