PENSIONS

[glesgafergie]

I have a small pension plan worth about 26000 can i cash this in for a lump sum now if im under 50

[factor-fiction]

No.

[Hymie]

Factor30 is correct – currently pension rules allow you to take 25% of your pension pot (tax free) and buy an annuity with the remainder, from age 55 onwards.

So if you were 55 now – your £26k pension pot would get you a tax free lump sum of £6.5k and an annual income (fixed for life – never increasing in amount paid) of around £1,000 per annum.

[mokane002]

There are also rules dealing with small pensions that can be taken as a lump sum between 60 & 75 as long as the total of all your pension pots areless that £18000 (for this tax year) and so you won't be able to qualify as your fund is not considered trivial (and you are too young). The only possibility would be if you had a "protected pension age"such as dancers or footballers who can access their pensions from 35, but as you don'tmention it, its unlikely that this will apply to you