Show Notes
Some excellent questions this week, as always, and with the added bonus of moving the podcast onto YouTube! Join Pete and Rog as they answer questions about finance management apps, investment platform selection and transitional tax-free allowance certificates!
Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA32
01:39 Question 1 Hi Pete and Roger
Thanks so much for all the work you do, I've only found the podcast recently but already enjoying learning more and thinking about things differently.
My question relates to saving for retirement and specifically the period leading up to retiring. Nearly all of our (mine and my husband's) pensions are in SIPPs where we have been happy to be 100% equity, in global index funds. We are now maybe 7-10 years from the point where we could retire, and I've been able to research withdrawal strategies to the point where I'm confident managing that when we get there. We have determined our target asset allocation split between equities / bond funds / individual gilts and money market funds for the start point of retirement. I haven't been able to find much information about the period of transition from 100% equity to the asset allocation we want in place for the start of retirement. Obviously it's a balance between reducing exposure to volatility as we approach retirement and accepting a drag on the portfolio caused by the increasing allocation to cash and bonds and my instinctive (but not evidence-based!) approach would be to gradually move from one to the other over a number of years. So my question is this - is there a better approach than just a straightline shift from one to the other? How far out from retirement is it appropriate to start making the transition? The best advice I can find online is just to pick whatever makes you feel comfortable and do that but surely there must be some more robust guidance out there? I appreciate it might not be a one size fits all answer but would appreciate your thoughts on how to approach this. The one piece of advice I do seem to have found is that however we decide to do it, to stick to a predetermined schedule to avoid temptation to try to time the market - does that sound sensible or have I missed the mark on that? Thanks so much for any help you can give. Fran
08:28 Question 2 Hello I listen to your show when out on walks and find it helpful for somebody who struggles at times with pension planning I am 55 and myself and colleagues were told we had to leave the Final Salary pension scheme in 2019, the flipside being we would still have employment and our final salary pension would be triggered at reduced age of 50, although we would only get the years paid into rather than the magic 40 years which would give 40/80ths of your final salary. So, for me , mine was triggered in 2020 and it was around 32/80ths (paid in since age 17), and I still remain in employment. At this time I received a statement saying my pension had triggered, I had opted for the smaller lump sum (we had two options and some took the larger sum). There was no option to not take a tax free lump sum. I received a statement from the pension provider and it stated I was using 57% of the LTA Now, since 2024 the P60 I receive from the pension provider annually now shows how much of the LSA I have used, this shows an amount of £153k , which equates to the same 57% , this time of the tax free lump sum allowance of £268k (I have rounded the figures). However, the actual lump sum I received was £80k - so should I not have £199k left to use up ? As I got my lump sum prior to 2024 and it is far lower than the standard calculation used to generate £153k used figure , do I not have any protected rights and able to dispute this ? It seems unfair that others who opted for double the tax free lump sum I received will be treat the same as myself regarding what tax free lump sum they can get in future (We all pay into a company DC scheme these past 6 year, with a different provid
More from The Meaningful Money Personal Finance Podcast
In this Meaningful Money Q&A, Pete Matthew and Roger Weeks answer six listener questions about UK investing, pensions and retirement planning. They explore investment fund risk ratings, funding the years before the State Pension, balancing pension saving with spending and family gifts, and how salary sacrifice, relevant UK earnings and pension carry forward work. The episode also examines how Armed Forces Early Departure Payments relate to the tax-free pension cash allowance, plus whether a £2,880 SIPP contribution could benefit a non-taxpayer approaching retirement. A practical UK personal finance podcast for anyone seeking clearer answers on investment risk, pension tax relief and making retirement income last.
In this Meaningful Money Q&A, Pete Matthew and Roger Weeks answer your UK personal finance questions on retirement planning, pensions and tax. Can a couple really retire at 50 on £40k a year using ISAs, a SIPP and a DB pension, and should you trust AI for retirement projections? We also cover semi-retirement, tax-free cash and the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA), whether to switch extra pension contributions to a SIPP ahead of the 2029 salary sacrifice changes, and taking dividend income from a GIA. Plus, how gifts to children are treated for inheritance tax, and how pension and ISA rules could be reformed without becoming a political football.
The Fault Lines of Finance asks why good people do bad things with other people's money, and what keeps the good ones good. Pete is joined by Philippa Hann and Dr Moira Somers, authors of the book, to talk about ethics in financial services, the role of regulators like the FCA, and the case for what they call the re-moralising of finance. They get into the personalities most at risk of crossing a line, why humility seems to be in short supply in the profession, and why the way we spend and invest says more about our identity than we tend to admit. There is also a line we keep coming back to: scrutiny done well is an act of stewardship.
In this Meaningful Money Q&A, Pete Matthew and Roger Weeks answer six listener questions on the UK money decisions that trip people up. We look at the best place to hold an emergency fund (cash ISA, Premium Bonds or stocks and shares ISA), how the £10,000 Money Purchase Annual Allowance works if you retire part-way through the tax year, and whether moving pension income into an ISA can help fund future care home costs. We also cover claiming a refund on overdraft charges, balancing a police CARE pension with a SIPP, LISA and ISA to retire at 55, and paying employee share scheme proceeds into a SIPP tax-efficiently.
Is whole of life insurance too expensive, or can it be a valuable part of financial and inheritance tax planning in the UK? Pete Matthew is joined by Justin Harper, Chief Marketing Officer at LifeSearch, to explain how whole of life cover differs from term life insurance, how premiums are calculated and whether they can be guaranteed for life. They explore later-life uses, funeral costs, inheritance tax liabilities, policy reviews, surrender values and the risk of paying more in premiums than the eventual payout. You'll also learn when an alternative may be more suitable and how to decide whether whole of life insurance is right for you. LifeSearch - https://meaningfulmoney.tv/lifesearch *affiliate Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/session638