I guess others are in a similar situation. I have several dormant pensions from previous jobs. I'm hurtling towards 55 which means I could start to draw down a tax free lump sum, but I could also look into merging into my current pension, or both.
Anyone been through this or any advice welcome.
Well my advice costs money, but I'll give some pointers
It's not always straightforward. Some old pensions allow drawdown i.e. take your tax free lump sum but no income, but a lot don't.
You could consolidate into your workplace pension, but there might be an issue with wanting to take a tax free lump sum and continue paying into it. Some pension providers can't cope with it.
If you take income as well as the tax free lump sum, you'll be limited on how much you can pay into a pension from that point.
Your average TEFer might tell you to cash them in and blow the lot now, as enticing as that sounds you need to find the balance between taking and spending the cash now vs needing it later in life. Just because you can take money out at 55 doesn't mean you should.
Pensions are there to provide income throughout retirement. Many people underestimate how long they'll live for and risk running out of money by being a bit too care free, passing the burden onto their future selves. Trying to survive on a state pension of £11.5k would be a meagre existence.
In my professional opinion, when it comes to pensions/retirement planning the only way you'll know for certain which is the right approach is to take advice from someone qualifed and preferably one that does cashflow planning/forecasting.
Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want to ask anything specific.
