The Times

A question about : The Times

I've seen the headline in The Times but cannot read the article (subscriber only content)

I am 59 and, after being encouraged by many threads in this forum, planning to 'retire' end March 15 and was considering 25% cash free sum sometime later in year. Savings and maybe some part time working making access not an immediate priority.

Do I need to act now and before election to manage any risk?

Best answers:

• Oh dear the Daily Mail has a scare story about the Labour Party.
  Now that is surprising - must be true - let's all panic.
• The DM reports: "More money could be saved by lowering the Ј40,000 ceiling on the amount savers can put aside each year tax-free or cutting the lifetime tax-free limit of Ј1.25million per pension, The Times reported last night." So it doesn't seem likely to affect the OP. One thing that would worry me if I had lots in a money purchase pension is the possibility that they'll increase the tax rebate for contributions to 30% or 33% and at the same time cut the Tax Tree Lump Sum from 25% to, say, 20%. The bigger rebate is no use if you've largely finished contributing, but the cut in the TFLS by 20% would be nasty. I'd be tempted to get my TFLS out before the first Labour budget in, say, July 2015.
• One thing is for sure, they couldn't do any more damage than GB did in 1997 by removal of the dividend tax credit that has taken almost 140 Billion pounds out of pension schemes since then. To Labour a pension is tax evasion !!
  BEWARE of Labour !!
• Its no scare story - Labour will have to find savings and tax relief on pension contributions and tax free lump sums are an easy target.
  I fully expect if we have a Lab/Lib/SNP/Green combo in government relief may be granted at a flat percentage rather than your marginal rate on contributions, annual allowances may be cut further and the 25% tax free lump sum may be capped. While I support them - pension tax reliefs costs the governent Ј25billion a year so are an obvious target for savings even if its a short termist approach!
  Cos whoever wins is going to have to make some tough choices - and cutting payouts to the well off may be easier than cutting public services or benefits. Their voters benefit more from the latter!
  All this was shadowed in an IPPR report last summer - they are Labour's top think tank. Cue a link to that well known right wing paper the Independent.
  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...s-9550071.html
• of course, Thatcher smashed final salary schemes in the 80s by stopping companies from funding them (to increase government tax take), so the roof wasn't repaired in the good times so most had to shut down when times became hard.
• BEWARE of all politicians regardless of political leaning, red Blue or otherwise. Not to be trusted.