N.E.S.T is it worth it

A question about : N.E.S.T is it worth it

I an 56 next year (omg) and will have probably about 11 years paying in to the new pension. I have calculated my self and using the pension calculator on the nest web site and arrived at a total pot of around 11,000.
I can take 25% tax free (Ј2,750) and will get Ј500 annually (Ј40 monthly). This goes down depending if I guarantee this for 5 or 10 years and if I want to increase payments at rate of inflation.

I can't really see that this is worth it. This is assuming that my pay stays the same for the next 11 or so years and I stay with the same company. Having worked permanent nights for last 15 years if I carry on with the same I don't think I will be alive in 11 years. If I do, what is Ј40 a month going to be worth in real terms, not a lot.

It's seems that I am already in and past the opt out period as haven't received my welcome pack with opt out details and monies payed in will not be returned. Great.

Any opinions would be appreciated

Best answers:

• At age 56 you're no longer so badly affected by one of the major negatives of NEST: its ban on transferring out to get better investment choices. If you want, you can transfer out by stopping, transferring and signing up again.
  If you want to opt out and didn't receive an information pack please make a complaint to NEST. This is the second case I've seen where someone was signed up and apparently hadn't been given a chance to opt out or NEST. It's mandatory to refund within the opt-out period but it is still possible to refund after that.
  You are not required to buy an annuity to get an income. You are not required to wait until you are 67 to take a lump sum or income of both. From age 55 and above any personal pension can be taken and you can use capped income drawdown instead of buying an annuity. If this is all of the pension pot you'll have, income drawdown is likely to be quite marginal on cost grounds.
  It is very likely that NEST is choosing to use a poor fund from their range for your money. You should check where your money is being invested and at least pick one of the less bad options, say a FTSE All Share Index tracker.
  Since this is NEST it's probably not worth paying in any more than it takes to get any employer matching. If there is no employer matching it's probably best not to use NEST at all, to avoid its high charge on money being paid in and its' not inexpensive ongoing charges.
  Standard pension projections give the numbers in today's money. So Ј2,750 is an amount that would be worth that much today. Same for the income. It is unlikely that you are being given good quotes for annuities for income, compared to the best on the market, and if you have any negative health factors you're almost certainly not. Like quite a lot of providers NEST just offers a tiny section of all annuity providers, but lots of people don't bother to shop around to get a better deal.
  Do you have any other work or personal pensions? From age 60 anyone with pension pots worth up to Ј18,000 in total can take them all as a lump sum.
• Hi guys thank you for you replies
  Jamesd
  Quote:
• Yes, you can transfer a NEST pot once you're aged 55 or older. They don't allow it before that.