Pension lump sum - what to do with it

I was looking back through pension safety net options and wanted to share what worked for us. When £35k is the whole emergency fund, safe is definitely the way to go over taking risks with shares.

Maxing out the £20k Cash ISA right away is the smartest first move. For the remaining £15k, a high-interest fixed account or notice account usually beats standard savings while keeping it protected under the FSCS.

When my parents took their lump sum, I used The Investors Centre just to compare safe UK rates and check which accounts had proper FSCS backing. It made it way easier to pick a high yield without stressing over risk."

Thanks everyone, really helpful comments. Just to answer a few points. The lump sum came through today so he has made his choice on that. The amount seems to be too small for a financial adviser. His annuity will die with him which means he gets more pension income. The reason for this is that I am younger by 11 years and have a bigger pension pot, so when I get to the same stage I should have enough to support me on the assumption I outlive him. If we were the same age we would have done it differently.

We will take a look at this over the weekend, but a big thank you to everyone who has replied. It has been really helpful. I think he will probably do a small amount in a savings account and some in a stocks and shares ISA.

Have a look at Raisin as previously suggested by Loujoamk They do good rates

I retired from teaching 3 years ago and my advice is
1. Pay off any debts - the interest is higher than what you can earn in accounts. I paid off car loan for example.

2. Fixed term ISA - I did 2 years at a time just in case I needed money. I looked for highest savings ISA as I am adverse to any risks despite knowing economic market quite well. Otherwise - stocks and shares ISA does pay more !

3. I use Raisin and keep an eye on high interest offers and move money when it’s available. I try to keep some accessible to me for any last minute plans / holidays. For example, regular digital saver accounts are quite good - and Chase often have deals offering extra interest too. Most of the incentives have limited time so watch for when the interest drops too !

All of this because I now have time to take care of my finances ironically. I find Martin Lewis’s advice pretty reliable.

My advice Put a lump sum in a long-term savings account and forget about it. With the rest? Go on holiday somewhere fabulous and enjoy the returns from a long time of hard work.

You can find slightly higher rate savings accounts. Tesco are doing a fairly good Internet saver if you want easy access with a reasonable rate. You can often take a regular Saver account at the bank which also gives a reasonable rate. You could use the money from Tesco to make the monthly payments, thereby making the best you can of the interest rates. We found that ISAs don't generally give such a good rate of interest.

He could take a drawdown each month to the equivalent of an annuity. The rest stays invested until he needs it. An annuity dies with him therefore leaving nothing for you. You could have a joint annuity but that would be half the rate per month and that would continue after his death. I have a drawdown and the growth has outstripped any ISA. Drawdown every time

Calendargirl

I used my lump sum to buy premium bonds for DH and me.

We have done well with them, but I know it’s not guaranteed to win and no interest.

But it’s government backed and you can always cash them in if required.

Also tax free and a bit of fun, I don't do any gambling as I don't want to lose money so premium bonds are my bit of a safe flutter.

My DH got a good lump sum with his CS pension and he bought another btl property. We already have a few so are experienced in handling them. The property price will likely go up and he'll gain about £250 pcm from letting the property. He's bought through a ltd company so can offset mortgage interest cost and it's an interest only mortgage. He was careful to buy an EPC B house with solar panels to future proof as much as possible. To buy a btl you have to put down a minimum of 25 percent of purchase price plus additional SDLT. It might not be a popular choice but it makes good financial sense.

It depends a lot on peoples personal circumstances imo.

As my own personal retirement age got changed by the Government (yep...I'm a WASPI woman) and put up to about 3 years older than my own retirement age of 60 = I had two options job-wise:
- I could have carried on a little bit longer in the job before resigning for retirement. But I didn't anticipate that what was left of my job would remain very much longer (only a matter of months - and I was correct). So I could have hung on in there that few months and then got redundancy money from them for having been made redundant. Obviously I would have like that money and it would have been a noticeable amount. But I loathed/loathed/loathed the job with a passion anyway and decided to stick to retiring at my own retirement age/still the employers retirement age for "longer-serving" staff. Thus I knew I'd have to use some of that lump sum to subsidise the missing State Pension until it eventually turned up late (as the job pension is so low).

- I had to move elsewhere in the country because I still didn't have the "forever home" house I'd expected at some point in my 40's-50's. So I had to move to a cheaper area to get it and cover the fact I knew my brother well enough to know he'd be grabbing for the lions share of inheritance money at my expense (he did!). It's an area where the houses tend to be in worse condition and more old-fashioned than I'm used to - so I used up all the spare pension lump sum and some savings I had myself to gut the house I bought here and get it to my definition of "normal standard".

So - yep:
a. Subsidising my little job pension until I reached my "revised State Pension Age"
and
b. Getting house elsewhere in country up to the standard I'm used to seeing.

So:
- do you need any major work on your house (assuming it's a "forever home" one)? Work is only going to get dearer. It got dearer after the Lockdown recently and there's a distinct suspicion the Government might run another Lockdown at some point and they have been caught out doing some planning-in-case they have another one. If they do - that would put prices up yet again (even though fewer would comply with a second one).

- do you need to "subsidise" your income until it's all coming in - or do you currently have all the pension income that is due to come in ever?

Other thought being whether you have private medical insurance - just-in-case. I do personally - as I've seen for years which way "the wind is blowing" on that one. But - I mentally keep some money reserved in case (especially because I've moved from England to Wales - where the NHS is even worse).

In an ordinary savings account.

Correction, re above post.

That would earn £1000 interest, just in the limit.

Also, wins on premium bonds are tax free.

You only need £20000 earning 5% interest to end up paying tax on your interest.

Trouble

He got advice on whether or not to take an annuity, but in the end wanted certainty that he would get a guaranteed income for life. It probably isn't the saviest decision, but he values the certainty. It does mean he can take some risk with the lump sum, but doesn't want to risk too much.

Will his annuity die with him? What will you have if he dies first?
My DH decided to take his lump sum and keep the rest invested. He's done very well so far. We used the lump sum money to buy stocks and shares ISAs for each of us and have a General Investment Fund with the rest. We draw down from the GIA for big expenditure like holidays and cars. I have a public sector final salary pension so we generally live on that with our SPs. We know we will have to rethink once DH reaches 75 but we're happy with the decision so far

I agree re Premium Bonds. We put our lump sums into them and win most months although nothing major (yet).

She is The Rt Honourable Rachel Reeves, MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

In my humble opinion a good choice is premium bonds

I did not take my pension straight away, as my state pension, his and his earnings were quite enough while we decided what to do.

Then my old civil service pension came out, and fast forward 10 years, and we are now taking out the tax free 25% before it gets taxed in the budget.

There is a cut off point at 75 where you have to decide anyway. Interest rates are actually much better in a pension fund than anywhere on the open market, I find. So often better to leave it there until you actually need it.

Now, if you have less of a pension, you can add some of this money into your pension pot or just leave it sit there and draw off when you need it. No need to hurry into an annuity, although they seem to be quite good at the moment.

You can get a free options (without advice) consultation with the Pensions Advisory service.

FranP

Calendargirl

I used my lump sum to buy premium bonds for DH and me.

We have done well with them, but I know it’s not guaranteed to win and no interest.

But it’s government backed and you can always cash them in if required.

I have had a stash of premium bonds for nearly 40 years and never won a penny

How much do you mean by a stash, FranP?

My husband and I each have the max £50k and averaged £5000pa between us in the last year of the Tories when interest rates were higher. For the last 12 months this has fallen to just over £1,500 under Labour even though the rates aren't that much lower. I know it's not guaranteed but you do need a significant amount of bonds to increase your chances of getting the bigger prizes.

Georgesgran

You could put the other £15K into an ISA in your name? When DH worked, we had most of our savings in my name, (for tax reasons) and kept it that way after he took early retirement. The major expense for his lump sum was to buy a suitable vehicle, as he’d always had company cars and mine was totally unsuitable for his needs.

Martin Lewis latest info is that there are fixed rate instant access accounts paying 4.5%.

Yes, two stocks and shares ISAs are probably the way to go, you need to pay for yours from your own account, but he can transfer the money to you beforehand. If you're likely to need cash soon you can use a cash ISA for some of it, though rates are better if you're prepared to tie the money up for several years.

Calendargirl

I used my lump sum to buy premium bonds for DH and me.

We have done well with them, but I know it’s not guaranteed to win and no interest.

But it’s government backed and you can always cash them in if required.

I have had a stash of premium bonds for nearly 40 years and never won a penny

I don't think we need to worry. The current maximum is nearly £300k. They only plan to reduce the amount. A piece in one of the quality papers recently features info from finance experts. They are advising the normal people not to do anything without some advice. We risk of losing future interest etc.

Echoing those who have used a financial adviser. I had thought that we didn't really have enough money to make this worth while, but ours helped us identify what our ideal retirement looked like and then worked out with us how to make it happen. It was all very reassuring, as are the annual reviews.

Just so happens that I read the article below (from Fidelity) with the title "5 good reasons to take your tax-free cash - and 5 bad ones":

www.fidelity.co.uk/markets-insights/personal-finance/saving-for-retirement/5-good-reasons-to-take-your-tax-free-cash/

I hope this helps...

Good luck, Elizabeth.

I put my lump sum into a Stocks & Shares ISA. Fees of £144.80 were charged every six months. After fourteen years my original £30,000 had shrunk. Took my money out and put it in a cash ISA. I will never do a Stocks & shares ISA again.
IMO RR want us all to take out S&S ISAs because the brokers will receive fees twice each year!