He is an SJP Partner Practice so not sure what you'd get there by not going to SJP direct, saying that, knowing what I do of SJP, I wouldn't.
I jacked in work around 11 years ago, and it's highly unlikely I'll make any more contributions. Not sure what difference it would make if I took my pension now, or waited until I'm 65?
The basic principle is, the longer you wait, the more you get, even delaying the state pension beyond your official retirement age can add 10% over your remaining lifetime.
To get the full state pension you probably will need to top up your NI contributions if you haven't done so already. SWMBO topped hers up earlier this year. You can check the government website to see how much you've contributed to date.
Thanks for the info. Though I think about my old man, and inlaws, that were all gone around 70. And think we might as well take reduced pensions now.
I checked this when I packed up work, and I had the required number of years. Same for my Mrs now I'm fairly sure.
When my wife had financial advice from her workplace they said always take it when you can as you never know when you are going to keel over and may miss out, so to speak.
Plus what use is a big pension when you're in your 80's. And when you look in the mirror, you wonder who that coffin dodger looking back at you is..
Their MD Simon Hawker is a really knowledgeable and engaged guy, the business he leads has been directly involved with a group that I used to be on the board of, before I retired early 3 years ago. They've been supporting this business for as long as I'm aware, which says a lot about its approach and credentials, to me anyway. Let's hope they come up with something tangible, relevant and beneficial for you too.
It was quite a while ago, but I checked and was told I had enough years of contributions. I think it was 30 years? There was a period when I came out of my apprenticeship, when I was on the rock and roll, but signing on counted too apparently.
No, but my opinion is borne of knowing a number of people that went to work at SJP and their feedback i respect, none are still there for various reasons.
You can check it out online. When I was looking sor see how much the tax man wanted from me, even after I’ve already paid tens of thousands (many of them) in tax I fell across it/. Also estimates my serps too, which was useful.
If you've not yet reached your state pension age, which I think will be 66 or more, then you really should check, and I think the 35 years will apply. https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension It was 5 years ago that the new rules came in. There's no mileage in the "but HMRC/DWP didn't warn me" argument, as the so-called "Waspi women" have learned.
You might be pleasantly surprised about how they count as when I was much younger (student) I had a regular summer job where I paid NI and those years have been included in the count towards the total
I'm assuming that the "decent performance" refers to their very good customer service (that's my experience, anyway, with Junior ISAs etc.) and transparent/moderate charging structure, but if it's investment performance, then that's probably down to recent good stock market returns, or your shrewd choice of funds? I know that HL do offer investment advice services at extra cost, but their bread and butter services are based on the investor making their own decisions, using the huge amount of information available. That includes the info at the HL website, although they have come in for some criticism recently over the Woodford funds problem where some feel that HL were too positive in their presentation of those funds (although they would always have said that they are only providing information, and that isn't the same as advising people to buy). After Woodford, I'm sure that a lot of the "platform" services, where investors make their own choices, are being very careful to emphasise that publicising a particular fund or share is not the same as advising clients to buy it. This is all relevant when it comes to looking at transferring pensions, and especially out of a DB pension. I get the impression that HL are very wary of accepting transfers from DB. There is always a risk to an institution of a client accusing them of having given bad advice if their investments don't perform as well as they'd have liked, and transferring a DB pension involves giving up guarantees. https://www.hl.co.uk/pensions/transfer-to-the-sipp Their Q&A on "what type of pension can I transfer" says of DB pensions: "You might be able to transfer, but if the transfer value is more than £30,000, you’ll have to take advice from a regulated financial adviser and provide proof that the advice is in favour of transferring" This point about advice "in favour" of a transfer can be a tricky one. HL and some of their competitors don't charge anything for accepting a transfer (as distinct from any future charges for holding investments within a plan), and even if they had been involved in a separately chargeable advice process, I am sure they'd aim to keep it separate and would not advise "in favour" simply because they stood to get extra business. On the other hand, I'm guessing that there might be other pension businesses out there who may be more flexible and where the processes of advising, charging, and making investment decisions, may all be more intertwined.
I haven't reached state pension age, but I checked, and was told over 10 years ago, that I had the required amount of qualifying years to receive the full state pension.
