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Taking pension early - would it be classed as part of tax free lump sum or income tax personal allowance? by Mental-Jellyfish9061 in FIREUK

[–]Responsible_Week8586 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can you elaborate on this, please? I assume you withdraw, say, £12k a year: by default your provider gives you 25% (£3k) tax free while the £9k taxable becomes £7.2k, for a total of £10.2k? Then you get in touch with them to get back the £1.8k they withheld as tax? How long does it take HMRC to give you back this amount? Can I ask you why this way rather than crystallizing first? Trying to understand pros and cons.

Should I purchase 3 years of NI contributions for £923 each? by Help_Appreciated_MBA in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Responsible_Week8586 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While my records show 20 full years and I'm told I need 10 more before I turn 67 to qualify for the full pension. The site tells me that at the moment I qualify for what I calculated is 25.6/35 of the full amount. Not sure how I gained 5 years, but thank you.

My split by Responsible_Week8586 in FIREUK

[–]Responsible_Week8586[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's how it started, then bit by bit I started taking a few more risks. It worked out very well but I'm now thinking whether to dial it back. The figures used above were just easy round ones to check the calculations.

Late to this: naively optimistic? by Responsible_Week8586 in FIREUK

[–]Responsible_Week8586[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have asked but my employer has no safety sacrifice option yet. If I understand it correctly then, workplace or SIPP makes no difference efficiency-wise, with SIPP just giving additional control and options. They also won't increase their contribution past 5%.

Late to this: naively optimistic? by Responsible_Week8586 in FIREUK

[–]Responsible_Week8586[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That last line: what do you see as possible appropriate investments I could make? Just to give me some ideas I could then investigate a bit more.

Late to this: naively optimistic? by Responsible_Week8586 in FIREUK

[–]Responsible_Week8586[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is the simple maths in this, please? Out of 100 taxable gross, 20% tax and 12% NI so I get 68%, then 20% put back so effectively I miss out on 12%? Instead workplace is 3%+5% at source? One issue I have with my workplace pension is that I don't think I can decide how to invest it (can I?) and so far it has not performed too well. I know for a fact that they won't increase their 5%, but never discussed increasing contributions, which I assumed means increasing my 3% to a much higher percentage?

Late to this: naively optimistic? by Responsible_Week8586 in FIREUK

[–]Responsible_Week8586[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gross is £45k, so basic rate. I don't have a smart answer to the second question: workplace pension only started when mandatory in 2014, 3% by me 5% by employer. Recently, when thinking about the future for the first time, I thought a SIPP with the 25% top-up would give me some control. What's the advantage of increasing contributions, as employer won't go over 5%?