There's 1 thing stopping you from retiring 🛑 - here's how you solve it

[@guymartinwicks]

Interesting points. In theory I should have retired 2 months ago, 10 days before my replacement quits. I'm staying on 3 days a week whilst the solution is found. I could have retired a few years ago but have always thought it right to work to your state retirement age. I guess I like the work and it's social environment too much. I'm sure I'll be leaving soon but 3-4 months of work a year will suit me, certainly don't need the money. Individual attitudes and expectations are as important.

[@andrewkingdon2000]

I had the same problem when i asked a simple question of an advisor "can i retire at 60?" It took months ti get valuation statements from the 5 pensions i had. Some even said they hada policy of not giving future calus and even current cash equivalent values.

[@PrinciplesPersonalFinance]

It's one of the most frustrating parts of the job. Average wait times are about 8 weeks if there are multiple schemes. Then there's the fun of providers who don't take calls but don't respond to requests. 👍 Thanks for watching. Appreciated.

[@gingerLad]

Love the lighting, mellow yet vivid . On a separate point, would love to find someone who understands additional pension contributions to Armed Forces pension, tricky finding 'financial advice' , ppl on!I want to repeat generic comments and say tax implications are for 6 figure officers and military doctors/lawyers

[@PrinciplesPersonalFinance]

Thank you, that's appreciated. I thought I'd gone a bit overboard on the lamps! I'm not surprised you're struggling a bit there with advice content. Armed Forces, Civil Service and NHS Pensions are complex. I used to advise NHS professionals and was tempted to do videos on the topic but it would take quite a few videos to do it justice so I haven't got to that yet.

[@asher8464]

The calamitous Truss Budget has received surprisingly little condemnation and public/media scrutiny. Politicians want it swept under the carpet and few realise how much it cost pension schemes and pension investors which could amount to up to £0.5TN (per pension regulator). As regards pension transfers and dealing with scheme administrators, I have dealt extensively with them over the last 20 years, more in hope than expectation. Misinformation, lost paperwork, late or no responses to inquiries ... the list is endless. Their IT systems and processes are frequently not up to the task, staff are often poorly informed and lacking basic knowledge. Deferred members seem to suffer most. Your point about pension inertia is well made, some people genuinely overestimate how much they need in retirement due to poor planning.

[@PrinciplesPersonalFinance]

Thank you, and I hear you on the above points! On this video, I maintain that inertia is a huge issue. I wanted to try and balance it so it didn't seem like I was blaming any individual for not getting this sorted. Pension providers make it FAR too difficult on balance to get this information and people have busy lives with all sort of commitments. So while inertia costs many, there are very understandable reasons for this. Appreciate you watching and taking the time to comment.

[@simonnewman4240]

Love the video, thank you George

[@PrinciplesPersonalFinance]

Thanks Simon, appreciate your support. 🙌

[@DKNW62]

Hi George, a thing I got wrong was time of year I completely mistook how the tax year works..grrr, crazy considering everything else I thought through. Other things, maybe a bit of greed enjoying highest income to outgoings ratio for a while, maybe a feeling that the routine and demands of work keep you mentally in good shape, a bit of apprehension about change losing the social element, status etc. Btw the lifestyle approach was / is painful re uk gilts, I do feel misled with strategy being highlighted as low risk, when you look at fund fact sheets the uk gilt fund showed higher risk than global index. Luckily after liz I took active interest in funds and made some changes. Great videos. It took me 4 months to start DB and agree hard to get a verified doc, in the end I sent originals by recorded. Also hard to admit you’re starting the final chapter…. All psychological rather than financial

[@PrinciplesPersonalFinance]

Interesting! Yes, it's one of those things where there are often lots of hidden issues. Sounds like you've made solid steps to get things in place though. Wish you well for your upcoming retirement! 👏

[@mrscreamer379]

I don't understand the whole paying tax on your pension thing. So lets suppose you have a pension pot of £4million. I'm going to go to a bank and borrow against that (there are special loans for this) that will typically let me borrow 50-70% of my portfolio. So instead of paying 45% tax I pay about 5% loan interest. Why would I ever touch the principal. I borrow against it, pay next to nothing in interest as it is a secured loan and use the money to buy businesses that bring me an income that is not a PAYE type 45% salary. Am I missing something? No one mentions this but I feel like its the only way to draw down on a large pension. Pay interest! Not Tax!

[@PrinciplesPersonalFinance]

Yes....there's a reason no one mentions this. It fundamentally wouldn't work. There are too many issues really to highlight here but a few.. Only SIPP and SSAS offer lending with strict conditions for commercial property and for a SSAS occasionally loan backs, again, strict conditions. Just having pension assets does not they are available for marketable securities-backed finance as done by some HNW individuals. Withdrawals from pensions are taxable in the hands of the individual. Put simply - if you needed to reclaim the only way you could do this is via an individual withdrawal, it would be a tax nightmare. Lots of legislation around pensions on what you can and can't do as well.

[@beanbaka]

Having aegon issues i understand your frustration . Question for you if i could, im 55 this year and have 36/37 years ni contributions so far, do the 35 years contributions need to be the 35 years leading up to retirement. Say if im ill before retirement for a few years and dont pay ni as i hit retirement age but still have the cumulative 35 years ni, am i still elegible for it, or do the years i missed payments come off my total years paid? Thankyou.

[@divyv20]

Hey Principles Personal Finance , very good video . I can do better editing in your videos which can help you to get more engagement in your videos . Pls lmk what do you think ?

[@dan-jh4mz]

People invest in the snp500 and global funds because over time they have grown more than inflation. Is the fact now most countries in the world have a declining birthrate below 2 children on average an issue for the world investments keeping on growing?

[@sassasins031]

Companies who require workers will move to where the workers are in the world. A shrinking population is in theory a good thing but it has never been seen before so it is difficult to predict what will happen.

[@schzx14]

I’m dropping at 46 seconds. You’re like a car for sale sign that doesn’t state the price.

[@simonnewman4240]

Tell us you are simple without telling us you are simple

[@TaiwoOmotosho-m9v]

Hi George, Thx for this illustration. Would the same calculations apply if John was in a defined benefit scheme,Pls? Also, What's the impact of the State Pension if considered in the calculation & its effect on the effective tax rate,pls?

[@davidfolts5893]

Thanks, Principles Personal Finance. There are lots of great financial learning points to consider!

[@PrinciplesPersonalFinance]

Thanks David, appreciate you watching and your kind words! Hope you are well.

[@davidfolts5893]

@@PrinciplesPersonalFinance My pleasure, George!

[@NotEvenMe3000]

Thanks 😊

[@conanthelib1]

Wonderful page, always look forward to your content, thank you so much. 🫡🫡🫡

[@PrinciplesPersonalFinance]

Thank you! That means a lot, always takes a bit of time creating content so kind words like these keep me going. Appreciated!