Drawdown not available

[realitybites]

Trying to get my pension payed so as to get me through to my state pension. Spoke to someone at Royal Mail / Scottish widows and drawdown is not available. Been told only way is to get pot transferred to another company.

[RobertT]

Which should be easy enough.
Going by a few previous posts on here, I think the RM SW lot are much more efficient than the RMPP and RMSPS.

Most if not all DC pension providers, offer drawdown.

[realitybites]

Not sure which way to approach this. Does anyone have any recommendations for a provider

[realitybites]

Just visited the rmdcp.uk site and the video they have there says drawdown is an option but when I phoned about it I was told it wasn't an option and would have to transfer out to another provider? I am very confused
https://rmdcp.uk/videos/how-you-can-take-your-money

[RobertT]

Whether you can use SW for drawdown or go elsewhere, doesn't really matter that much as they all do basically the same thing!

So when looking for a pension provider most people will mainly look for investment choice, charges and ease of use. While some might just have an affinity to a certain company.

There are a few pension comparison sites online which might give you an idea.

Personally I paid into a pension with Standard Life for many years, which is currently in drawdown.
I've always been pleased with the performance of the funds I've invested in and I've found their customer service to be very good too.
But it's a choice you make for yourself.

[realitybites]

Whether you can use SW for drawdown or go elsewhere, doesn't really matter that much as they all do basically the same thing!

So when looking for a pension provider most people will mainly look for investment choice, charges and ease of use. While some might just have an affinity to a certain company.

There are a few pension comparison sites online which might give you an idea.

Personally I paid into a pension with Standard Life for many years, which is currently in drawdown.
I've always been pleased with the performance of the funds I've invested in and I've found their customer service to be very good too.
But it's a choice you make for yourself.

Thanks for all your input as always, you have been a great help

[realitybites]

Having spoken to 3 diferent people I still do not know the choices available to me regarding my RMDCP. I seem to be getting drawn down other avenues when all I want to know is what options I have to draw my pension. If anyone can point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

[heapsy]

Doesn't apply to me, but think you might be better with someone like Hargreaves Lansdown. They are more likely to offer more options, and probably an increased income. As a general rule, pension companies tend to be limited in what they offer. Usually they will tell you, you may get a higher income elsewhere.

[RobertT]

Having spoken to 3 diferent people I still do not know the choices available to me regarding my RMDCP. I seem to be getting drawn down other avenues when all I want to know is what options I have to draw my pension. If anyone can point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

The general options you have with a DC pension are here: https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensi ... on-schemes

As you've already said you want to draw it down, you first need to clarify with SW whether you can do that with them, or whether you need to transfer out.

If it's the latter, you need to choose a provider/platform to move your money to.
Once you've done that, you may need to open a pension with them first, which you can often do with a nominal amount(£100 ish), or some providers will let you use your transferred amount as the starting balance.

When the money's been transferred, you then take 25% upfront as tax free cash and put the remainder into drawdown, meaning you set up a regular monthly income from the remaining cash.

I was a bit worried about that process with mine, but I did it all online and it was actually really straight forward.

You'll have choices of where to invest your money while it's in drawdown just as you do now, and the number of choices will vary with the provider/platform you choose.

Individual pension companies can often just offer their own in house funds, although some will also provide platforms similar to HL and AJ Bell, where you have potentially hundreds if not thousands of investment choices.

[realitybites]

Thanks for all the input

[Gary55]

Sorry to sound very dense but what is drawdown how does it work thanks

[yellowbelly]

Sorry to sound very dense but what is drawdown how does it work thanks

This website (already referred to by RobertT) gives an explanation:

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensi ... n-drawdown

[yellowbelly]

Thanks for all the input

Hi rb, when you get a definitive answer whether RMDCP (SW) allow drawdown directly from them can you post it on here pls?

[Gary55]

Sorry to sound very dense but what is drawdown how does it work thanks

This website (already referred to by RobertT) gives an explanation:

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensi ... n-drawdown

Cheers

[realitybites]

Thanks for all the input

Hi rb, when you get a definitive answer whether RMDCP (SW) allow drawdown directly from them can you post it on here pls?

They don't offer drawdown but have been advised to speak to someone at Scottish widows be referred to the hub which I assume will be backed by scottish widows with a lot more choice. Have enquired through Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell, L&G, LV and a few others. All seem to be fairly equal in quotes and offer drawdown for shorter periods which is ideal for me. Don't really want to incur advisory fees as I know exactly what I want to do. My problem is I have another pension with a guaranteed annuity which I know won't be using and just want to transfer them both and start drawdown. It seems they bias it towards taking advice so you do end up paying for their services.