All as cash please !

If you are aged 60 or older and the total value of all your pensions is less than

£18,000, you can take it all as cash. 25% is tax free and the balance is taxed as

if it were income you had earned in that tax year. If you cannot take advantage

of that option, but have a couple of very small pension pots (£2,000 or less),

you can do the same with them – up to two such small pots per person.

RETIREMENT MENU

RETIREMENT MENU
Minimum age: 55


Cash please


You can have a maximum of 25% of the value of your pension funds (This refers to personal pensions; the rules are different for a Final Salary Scheme where the benefit is based on the salary and years of service.). So, if your pension funds total up to £20,000, you can get £5,000 as tax-free cash. If they are worth £100,000, you can have £25,000 tax free.






More 'Menu' to follow next week

Attack the Plastic

One of the unhappy after-Christmas and New Year “surprises” is the arrival of the credit card bills for the Christmas spending. Of the various financial tools available, the one we find most misused and most destructive are the credit card and store cards. A credit card used properly can be a very useful way to make purchases on-line, or when you are abroad, or to take advantage of a special offer. If you then pay the credit card balance off in full, you will have had 4 to 6 weeks free credit and will have avoided the “honey trap”. If you do not pay it off in full, it is all too easy to fall into the habit of just paying minimum payments. Paying minimum payments of 2% or 3% of the balance is an invitation into NeverNeverLand, as it will not pay off the debt and you will end up having paid an enormous amount of interest, while the credit card balances remain unpaid. If you need credit and are not going to be able to pay it off in full, use a loan. They are structured to ensure that the amount owed does really get paid off.

EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE

Although no longer as young as we would wish, over 3 decades of experience does give us the know-how and expertise to use in assisting our clients. We aim to achieve maximum customer satisfaction and responses such as these recent ones: “Thank you for all your help and advice.” (Mrs LW of East Grinstead) and “It was a pleasure dealing with you.” (Mr MH of Kent).