Steve Webb answers your pension questions here

Pensions are often a divorcing couple’s second biggest asset after the family home, and are sometimes worth even more, yet are frequently overlooked in financial settlements.

Pension freedoms mean retirees can now invest their savings how they like rather than buy a stingy annuity. But what do you need to consider and plan ahead for when funding retirement this way?

At the extremes, prices range from £1,488 a week in Islington in London to £621 in Blaenau Gwent in Wales, according to figures from insurer Legal & General.

Former Pensions Minister Steve is This is Money’s Agony Uncle. Here’s where you can check out all his previous columns to see if any involve issues affecting you.

The DWP says my partner is no longer entitled to widow’s pension. The decision flies directly in the teeth of our understanding of the entitlement, which was that our cohabitation did not impact it.

A survey of homeowners aged 55 and over, by retirement home builder Audley Group, found 34 per cent want to move to a better area and 29 per cent want to be closer to family and friends.

One person who knows this is Ian Dibb. Eighteen years ago, his sister took her own life. Two years later, his mum died of lung cancer. Dealing with all the subsequent administration was a nightmare.

The hope is that ready-made deals will help people use pension freedoms, which give them greater control over their retirement savings, more successfully.

The People’s Pension’s report, unveiled for the first time in Money Mail today, lays bare the ‘binary’ choice pensioners currently have between costly financial advice – or going it alone.

Pay cuts, redundancy and worries over job security have forced workers of all ages to consider whether they can still afford to put money in their pension.

A ‘direct cremation’ takes place without a funeral service, and ashes are returned to a family afterwards, allowing them to organise a personal memorial for a loved one at a time of their choosing.

For years, widower Thomas Wyness from Aberdeenshire was bombarded with letters telling him he’d won big cash prizes. But the prizes never arrived, and his losses quickly added up.

Some 42 per cent of eligible homeowners are failing to claim any benefit at all, losing out on £830 a year on average, according to a report by Just Group,

My dad passed away in November. He was entitled to the fuel payment, and his confirmation letter was received, but I have now closed all bank accounts to get the finances sorted.

The move might be particularly beneficial for over-55s, who can gain immediate access to their pension pots if they want.

Divorces rose as the pandemic put families under unforeseen new pressures last year, and now the usual post-Christmas wave of break-ups has begun

With hopefully another 19 years of healthy earnings of more than £400,000 a year, should I continue to pay into my Self-Invested Personal Pension, having exhausted Isas?

When John and Veronica Lerston attempted to sell the two flats they had bought with retirement savings the building was found to be a fire risk and effectively worthless.

Why is there no protection in law when there has been probate fraud? I spent £2,000 on solicitors fees advising my estranged brother of the will. He chose to ignore all correspondence.

Rishi Sunak is already signalling that as soon as a Covid recovery dawns, he will be looking to meet the gargantuan cost of the pandemic – and that could hit pensions.

Wendy Bowles, 81, (pictured with husband Derek, 84) may have missed out on as much as £17,000 in the pension scandal exposed by us and Steve Webb.

The deal commits both sides to maintaining free trade across the Channel. And while its full impact won’t be known for years, almost all forecasts agree it is good news for the economy.

Our agony uncle, former Pensions Minister Steve Webb, answered pandemic concerns and questions on evergreen topics like inheriting a state pension and buying top-ups.

I have two final salary pensions neither of which give me any annual uplift in respect of service (and thus paying into the schemes) before 1988. What is the significance?

Widows who fear they are underpaid state pension now or were in the past can check their payments on a new web page launched by our agony uncle Steve Webb.

There are an estimated 510,000 retirees around the world whose state pensions are currently frozen at whatever amount it was set at when they moved abroad.

Margaret Lyons, pictured with her late husband Michael, has only now inherited a substantial pension he built up over a 45-year career at Otis Elevator Company, which he joined at age 15.

My mother’s funding for end of life care is 100 per cent and no top-ups are requested by Mum or the county council. Is she still entitled to receive her state pension or do I need to stop this payment?

I was going to pay money in annually but am I right in thinking that this might not be worth my while as I’ll be taxed when I cash it in. I am 64 years old and will become a taxpayer when I receive my state pension.

This is Money asked AJ Bell’s Tom Selby for his top tips on saving into a pension when you’re self-employed and how to use it to save money on tax at the same time.

The basic price includes an oak veneer coffin, transport to collect the deceased person, a 20-minute service at a crematorium, music and readings, and the return of ashes to a family.

Official police fraud report figures had previously shown that just £31 million had been lost to pension scammers since 2017. Experts have always believed the true cost to be much higher.

Do you know of a definitive way to search online banks in one go? Something similar to the ‘My Lost Account’ search but for an active account.

If trust turns out to be misplaced and matters go awry, and in the worst cases lead to abuse, steps can be taken against holders of powers of attorney, lawyers explain.

My sister is pro pension and we had a heated discussion about it, but I really believe that I can get a better deal in a savings account rather than ‘let someone else invest’ my money.

Millions of ‘Generation X’ workers born in the early 1960s to the late 1970s face years of financial hardship in later life, a new study has warned.

It is important to consider your long-term finances and avoid damaging your pension if you lose your job. Kay Ingram, director of public policy at LEBC, offers some tips.

The retail prices index will be altered in February 2030, saving the Government £2billion a year in interest payments on inflation-linked bonds.

Pension platform PensionBee has unveiled plans to launch a new Fossil Fuel Free service for its existing customers’ pension pots. We speak to chief executive Romi Savova to find out more.

My daughter is getting divorced from her husband. They have been married for 18 years and lived together before that for seven years. He wants to keep their pensions out of the divorce.

There should be few cases when people of working age are not earning state pension credits, says our expert Steve Webb.

My question is can I take the full amount out without incurring costs, or am I best leaving it with the company until I am 60?

Tens of thousands of elderly women could be owed an estimated £100m in state pension after a major blunder, which was uncovered by Steve Webb and This is Money.

Our research shows that customers of both Barclays and Tesco Bank can get £500 sent to their homes via Royal Mail special delivery – at no cost. NatWest also offers a cash-to-home service.

Businesses could have to redo their sums for savers who transferred out of their pension schemes as well as those who stayed, following the latest ruling in a complex court saga.

Grandparents have four grandchildren on average, so they could spend about £416 or an estimated £2.4bn in total, according to the research from insurer SunLife.

Penny Loseby, 71, pictured below with husband Paul, missed out on £16,000 over seven years. When she tried to dispute her low payments, she was ignored or fobbed off on repeated occasions.

Comparing September with April this year – when a strict lockdown was in place across the UK – the Association of British Insurers found a sharp increase in people dipping into their pension pots.

Don Forsyth, 61, wants to unlock the money tied up in an old pension. But because it comes with valuable guarantees and is worth more than £30,000 it needs a financial adviser to sign off.

If I make voluntary payments, are these counted as the same value as those taken from employment when working out pension entitlement and whether a record is counted as ‘full’?

The Fossil Fuel Free plan will exclude companies with oil, gas or coal reserves, as well as tobacco companies and manufacturers of controversial weapons.

Do you know what all your pension pots are worth? Are you confident you’ve not lost track of one? If the answer to both questions is ‘yes’, congratulations – you’re doing better than most.

It has been a tough year for grandparents, with lockdowns and social distancing keeping millions away from loved ones. But they can still help out, and help themselves at the same time.

There are several ways to increase state pension entitlement – some for those who have already passed state retirement age and others for those below age 66. Many of them cost nothing.

‘Clone’ alerts by regulators have jumped 34 per cent to 401 so far this year, and 261 per cent since 2015 – and they currently make up two fifths of all fraud warnings issued by the City regulator.

I asked for a copy of the ‘deferred payment arrangement’ but it’s unsigned. The council has not formally asked for payment. Lawyer James Urquhart-Burton replies.

Some 59 per cent of women and 60 per cent of men are now putting 12 per cent of their income into a pension, a level considered ‘adequate’ for a relatively comfortable old age.

The Mail on Sunday has produced an essential guide for people aged 55 or over who are looking to unlock cash from their homes to boost their finances.

At least 15,000 sick and elderly Britons have been wrongly denied around £300m in support, research shows. It means thousands could be needlessly selling their homes to pay for care.

My husband says I need to reduce the offsetting figure during our divorce as he wishes to draw down all his pension at 55, although he will continue to work and he was 53 when we split due to his adultery.

The decline in pension saving will raise fears that millions of workers could be forced to delay retirement as they struggle to put away adequate savings for later life.

For a number of years now the Pension Protection Fund has paid my pension since my former employer folded. But why has my pension been frozen at the same level as when they took over?

Contribution levels are static among people in their 20s, and have dropped slightly among the over-55s, a new study of pension saving habits among Interactive Investor users reveals.

Some 1,900 women so far are confirmed to have lost out on state pension in a scandal we uncovered. Blunders were detected in one in four of the 7,200 claims dealt with to date by the DWP.

A growing number of over-60s like Charita Jones (pictured) are embracing the earning potential of the internet by making videos about their hobbies – and attracting millions of followers.

The pandemic has caused much financial hardship, pushing many to dip into their pension funds. Latest figures show a rise in the number of people doing just that over the past three months.

I worked for Tetley (of tea bags fame) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. When I left I withdrew my pension fund, amounting to some £300 or so. A few weeks ago I got a letter, supposedly from L&G.

Direct Line says it received 288 claims over lockdown, each worth an average of £1,628. And Aviva reported a 400 per cent increase in claims for lost and damaged hearing aids between April and July.

The scandal relates to women who reached state pension age before April 2016 and are entitled to receive a rate based on their husband’s National Insurance record.

One in three over-55s would retire early if made redundant during the Covid-19 crisis, amid signs the pandemic is making people reassess their health and working life.

We have been told that because my pension is £178.64 weekly and my wife’s jobseeker’s allowance is £74.35 we cannot claim universal credit as the monthly income is too high.

Over-75s are being reassured they can buy a TV licence without leaving home during the pandemic, after it emerged some felt they needed to post forms or get documents photocopied.

The pension dashboard scheme was originally supposed to be launched in 2019 with the aim of helping millions of people rediscover lost pension pots in an age when many have multiple jobs.

Markets plunged following the death of your father in December. Aviva says life policy calculation is made from written notification date – but you say need to write in was not mentioned when you rang up.

After my husband died, I received part of his pension. Before this, my pensions were very small, so I had not paid tax since I retired. I have now received a number of demands from the taxman.

Many women spend much of their lives working part-time to juggle caring responsibilities for children and other family members, and so make smaller pension contributions.

The current means-tested system is unfair, confusing, demeaning and ‘frightening for the most vulnerable people in our society, and their families’, according to the health and social care committee.

Does looking after them after school and when they cannot attend nursery or school and during school holidays count?

Insurance provider Pension Insurance Corporation has agreed to buy out the Old British Steel Pension Scheme and take responsibility for more than 30,000 workers’s retirement funds.

Bill McGregor, 71, from Dundee, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in January last year. He had surgery to remove his prostate, but the cancer has now spread to lymph nodes in his pelvis.

The triple lock means annual state pension rises are decided by whatever is the highest of price inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5 per cent.

‘Last year more than half of those still at work thought their lifestyle would improve when they retired. This year that number has halved,’ says Interactive Investor, of its survey of 12,000 adults.

A quarter of savers have stopped or cut back on paying into their pensions during the Covid-19 crisis and more are considering doing so, new research reveals.

As part of This is Money’s greener finance series, we asked Diandra Soobiah, Nest’s head of responsible investment, to reveal why cutting carbon is the right thing to do to protect people’s pensions.

Figures out on Wednesday are expected to show consumer price inflation rose to 0.4 per cent in September – up from 0.2 per cent in August but well below the triple lock.

A tax flaw means an estimated 1.5million poorly paid staff lose Government payments into their pensions, depending on the type of scheme operated by their employer.

The Department for Work and Pensions, which recently promised that staff training was being stepped up, is under cross-party political pressure to address state pension failures.

As we store more of our lives online, including money and possessions, our wills have to reflect this too. So to help you put your affairs in order, here’s our guide to writing a will in the modern age.

The task should be easier than six months ago. For witnesses – needed to make a will legally binding – can now observe the rituals of law via a video call.

Commission-free share investing platform Freetrade will launch a self-invested personal pension in December this year, This is Money can reveal.

A married woman is entitled to the equivalent of 60 per cent of their husband’s basic rate if they reached state pension age before April 2016. Yet a divorcee can claim up to 100 per cent.

Pensions minister Guy Opperman needs to wake up to the fact that hundreds of thousands of women are missing out on millions of pounds in retirement on his watch.

Increased unemployment and caring responsibilities among older people during the Covid-19 pandemic mean the idea should be looked at again, say some pension experts.

Aviva is the second major pension provider to declare a new strategy to combat global warning, following an announcement by state-backed pension provider Nest over the summer.

The new state pension age of 66, which kicks in next Tuesday, applies to anyone born after 5 October 1954. The full rate is currently £175.20 a week, or around £9,100 a year.

My sister and I have had lasting power of attorney for our father for a number of years. He was diagnosed with dementia in March and has signed another LPA that he doesn’t remember doing.

We explain changes to the state pension age, so you can find out when you will be allowed to retire

The competition watchdog launched a review of the £2 billion-a-year funeral sector in 2018 and recently ordered firms to be more transparent. But firms are still tricking the bereaved from their cash.

One in three older people leave retirement planning until two years before stopping work or don’t prepare at all, new research has found.

Pension age deadlines are more fluid as older people have gained greater control over retirement dates and finances – but some birthdays are still markers for decisions and action.

Former Pensions Minister Ros Altmann argues the Government may have misled many women and caused them hardship, but this may be due to maladministration rather than discrimination.

The pension industry is now warning that in the wake of pension freedoms reforms, savings worth £2.5 trillion are exposed to scammers because vital protections are not in place.

Labour MPs pressed the Government to reveal the scale of its probe, how many women are being paid incorrectly and when they would all receive their money.

More than 1,600 people have already signed the petition, which urges the Department for Work and Pensions to carry out a full trawl covering older wives, widows and deceased women.

People who make a will appoint one or more executors to apply for probate and divide up an estate, but where no one was selected to carry out this task it can lead to a power struggle.

Pausing contributions can blow a hole in retirement pots, with a 30-year-old earning £30,000 standing to lose more than £45,000 by opting out of pension auto enrolment for three years.

As the government prepares to turn off the furlough taps and withdraw its other coronavirus support schemes, perhaps it might be time to start thinking about your finances again.

Savers looking to ditch final salary pensions could be at heightened risk of moving to suspicious schemes during the coronavirus pandemic.

Currently savers can access their private pension at 55 – ten years before their state pension. However new rules will force anyone now aged 47 or younger to wait an additional two years.

My ex-husband contacted me recently because he intends to take advantage of the change in UK pension law, to allow him to withdraw 25% now and the balance in monthly or yearly payments.

A report published today calls for employers to provide greater assistance to those workers who want to transfer their ‘defined benefit’ pension plan into a scheme that they can manage themselves.

Many elderly people will be initially contacted via post this month informing them they have to pay the full licence fee from the start of last month.

The Government confirmed that from 2028 the age at which people can access their pension money will rise from 55 to 57 – but it may go higher still.

Grandfather of seven Peter Bull, 66, (pictured) who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015, is unlikely ever to receive his £150,000 payout from Aviva after his claim was rejected.

Baroness Ros Altmann is calling for more fairness from town halls after we uncovered dozens of cases where grieving families had been hit with unexpected council tax bills.

Only 55 per cent of adults plan to split their wealth equally among their children when they die, new findings from wealth management company Charles Stanley have revealed.

The future of the ‘triple lock’ that guarantees an annual state pension increase of at least 2.5 per cent is rumoured to have caused a rift at the top of the Government.

My brother and I are left equal shares of his house, but on my father’s death the property is held in trust with the condition that my brother can live there indefinitely, rent free and cannot be evicted.

Men in their 50s, who are the ‘average victim’ of pension scammers, are being urged to show them the red card by the veteran voice of football commentary.

Our life insurance policies both mature in 2029 and have no renewal options. A new policy is too expensive – what options do we have?

Just a fifth of women in the UK are aware that their pension savings are invested in the stock market, the hargreaves Lansdown survey reveals.

This is Money can reveal the Royal London Pension Property Fund has agreed to provide funds for Audley Group’s Wycliffe Park development, a 25-acre site at Horsleys Green in Bucks.

Rishi Sunak is said to be concerned by the ‘anomaly’ of the mechanism used to calculate state pensions and is looking to either reform or scrap it in an autumn budget.

I brought up my children from our marriage single-handed all those years with no assistance financially or otherwise and can’t help but feel this is unfair.

A selection of Steve’s top columns can help you avoid being scammed, understand the mysteries of the new state pension, and gain peace of mind by making the most of your pension savings.

James Urquhart-Burton, partner at Ridley & Hall Solicitors and an expert in care funding, explains how to make an application for yourself, or a loved one.

James Urquhart-Burton, partner at Ridley & Hall Solicitors and an expert in care funding, lays out the potential grounds for objecting to an NHS refusal and how to make a successful appeal.

Over the years, our father made five wills. He did not include our sister in any of them. He changed his will yet again, within months of her turning up after many years, and we are not in it.

I want to make sure my late mum’s house passes to me, as the quid pro quo for allowing him to stay there without paying anything. Helen Taylor, of Franklins Solicitors, replies

The only item in the will is his house, which will be split 50/50 between my brother and I anyway. There’s nothing underhand going on in any way. Lawyer Jane Sutherland of Nelsons, pictured, replies.

We separated 20 years ago. I am about to inherit from an estate and have a small private pension and a full state pension. Can my wife claim on them? Lawyer Lisa Pepper, of Osbornes Law, replies.

What is to stop my ex-husband converting everything to useless shares that are falling in value? Barrister Rhys Taylor explains how pensions are handled when couples divorce.

I feel aggrieved my inheritance is going to be £25k while my brother will likely get £975k from my father in addition to the £4m in properties he’s already received.

As the executor I’m a bit concerned that we may be breaking the law if he starts the work before probate is granted. What should we do? Lawyer James Beresford, pictured, replies.

If I accept my husband’s offer I would have less than half of the income that he is receiving, along with a five-year wait for my state pension. Lawyer Fiona Wood, pictured left, replies.

I am 84 years of age, healthy and fit for my age. I have given my son a will drawn up by a solicitor. He inherits all my assets. He wants to have a power of attorney document drawn up. Please advise.

In a stinging report, tax officials said people ‘can easily disadvantage themselves’ in a system that ‘appears illogical’, and told the Government to find a way to restore lost credits to parents.

There are many legal ways to dodge the dreaded 40 per cent ‘death tax’ if you want to pass on the maximum sum possible and are prepared to plan ahead.

Thousands are facing a poorer retirement as a result of innocent mistakes over paperwork. Nandia Needham, pictured with husband Martin, could be £20k out of pocket over a 20-year retirement.

The couple managed to convince HMRC they were unaware his filling in the child benefit form could result in her losing state pension in old age, in a case that could help many other parents.

It may not seem like a grand romantic gesture, but making sure your spouse is financially comfortable in retirement, will go a long way towards securing your future happiness together.

Hoard your pension and spend other cash and investments first, to keep your money away from the taxman. That’s the advice experts are dishing out to retirees worried about inheritance tax.

Elderly investors have to balance the need to make withdrawals yet keep a pot as intact as possible – whether to avoid running out of money or bequeath a pension to loved ones.

Grappling with the benefits monster can be daunting, particularly for those struggling with common side effects such as nausea, fatigue and chemo brain so here’s everything you need to know.

Many people put off thinking about their mortality. But there is vital paperwork to sort out before your time comes to an end.

Death is unavoidable – but the way we are laid to rest is still largely in our control. We examine the key decisions you need to make on a funeral.

With-profits policyholders often face an impossible choice about when to take their benefits. Turn down today’s offer and tomorrow’s may be lower. How can you decide when it’s time to leave?

Pension freedom reforms will give people more decision-making power over their retirement savings. But as ever, the more you have, the more freedom you will enjoy.

The rise of DIY online investing has transformed the way people are able to save for retirement, but navigating the maze of Sipp charges can be a tricky task.

If you signed up to a work pension scheme but took no further action, your savings are most likely in a ‘default’ investment fund. How do you check if it’s any good?