Taking pension when financial uncertainty in stock market

[Kodal]

Hi all,

Would taking our pensions when the stock market is up or down.
Make any difference to our final payments or is it averaged over the years?

Thanks in advance

kodal

[RobertT]

It depends to some degree which RM pension scheme you're talking about!

NRA60/65 pensions are defined benefit, which means what you get is determined by how much you earn and your length of service. The money via the RMPP element, is invested and can go up and down, but there's no direct link to the benefits you're entitled to.

If you have AVC's(Bonusplan & Flexiplan), they will be subject to the investments you've chosen and so can alter the amount of tax free cash you can take.

If you're in the RMDCP, then your savings will vary along with your investments when you're paying in and if you use drawdown to access your money in retirement. But if you buy an annuity, that is fixed for life.

Benefits via the new CDC scheme, whenever that starts, can potentially go up or down each year along with the investments held.