How to squeeze the most out of your work pension

Fresh analysis of figures dating back to 2008 shows a meteoric rise in the number of savers using the government’s Pension Tracing Service.

One in 10 adults had already cut contributions or stopped paying into a pension altogether in early spring, according to a new survey.

Making voluntary contributions can be very valuable, but people are often unsure if this will be worthwhile depending on what they have paid already, and if it is which years to purchase.

The full new state pension is worth £185.15 a week. To get this you must have 35 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions.

I’ve contacted my council several times and was told it was my own fault as I chose to live where I do. The person I contacted was rude and I asked if they had any two-bedroom houses and was told no.

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.

Drop in pension sharing applications has coincided with the introduction of DIY online divorces, say lawyers.

I would like to start a pension plan for him but would like it protected, so that he is not able to draw down from it and spend the fund before retirement age.

Former Pensions Minister Ros Altman says pensioners deserve their rise after the Government betrayed its ‘triple lock’ promise and gave them a 3.1% increase this year .

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey defended plans to spend billions on a double-digit boost for retirees next year after the Treasury vowed to reinstate its ‘triple lock’ pledge.

In a damning letter solicitors say civil servants are making ‘unacceptable’ mistakes – including returning paperwork ripped or with pages missing.

The Department for Work and Pensions discovered a computer glitch was causing errors in the uprating of the graduated retirement benefit.

Funeral plans cost between £3,000 to £4,000 and promise people peace of mind that their loved ones will not be hit with a big bill when they die.

The current auto-enrolment minimum is 8% of salary but some finance experts have long warned that falls short of what is needed for a comfortable retirement.

Markets have turned red as central bankers and politicians struggle to get soaring inflation under control, creating a gaping hole in many people’s retirement funds.

I know I can ‘buy’ missing years of National Insurance contributions – but is it worth spending a lump sum now to get more each year?

The lifeboat fund has abolished the cap on larger pensions and is paying compensation, but my old scheme’s obligations were transferred to an insurer so I’m missing out.

Some 20 per cent say they are retiring later than planned as they haven’t saved enough to stop working, new research reveals.

The age at which someone can start collecting their state pension, currently worth £9,638 a year, is due to rise from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028.

Ivor and Eileen Truman, (pictured on their wedding day) now live together in a care home meaning they face double fees which are soaring annually.

A new advertising campaign tackling myths that might deter people from applying is being launched on an official ‘day of action’.

Auto enrolment into work pensions takes the hassle out of saving for retirement, but you could be missing a trick or two by not looking any further than that.

Nearly 13,000 applications were filed in April, and just over a fifth of were made jointly – an innovation now permitted under the ‘no fault’ law.

I’m appalled that I can’t get them to stop trading and freeze the account immediately, and I must watch as more money is lost. I always thought my pension firm was acting on my behalf.

Sir Steve Webb, who was pensions minister in the coalition government, said there was a generation of middle-aged people at serious risk of not saving enough for retirement.

Estelle Henley, pictured with her husband Rob, was shocked to be told she would receive nothing whatsoever when she claimed in April.

Paul Harris, 84, and his wife Gillian, 83, are still waiting for their power of attorney documents 14 months after submitting applications.

I am trying to weigh up buying an annuity, or using drawdown. Do drawdown pensions have higher management costs? And should this put me off?

I retired after 42 years. I wonder if it would now be possible for me to make additional NI contributions so that I can receive a full or higher state pension?

It’s imperative a scheme is put in place. Otherwise, shamefully, confidence in the funeral plans market will remain fractured.

Ideally I’d like to carry on paying my current higher contributions and getting them fully matched by my employer. Do I have a right to this?

Empathy Funeral Plans UK, which has 7,000 customers, withdrew its application for authorisation in April, and Unique Funeral Plans failed to apply at all.

When Stewart Griffiths told the Department for Work and Pensions about the death of his mother Wendy, he discovered that she had been underpaid for 17 years and was owed close to £90,000.

She fears that without such protection, thousands of people could be left with plans that will not pay for the funerals they thought they had bought.

Many elderly people are using ‘desperate coping strategies’ and ‘extreme budgeting’ to pay essential bills, says Age UK.

Two thirds of my benefits were accrued before April 1997. The fund rules don’t allow for rises in excess of the Guaranteed Minimum Pension on those, but can be made at the discretion of the company.

This is despite the fact their money was meant to be safeguarded in a trust. The cost of Doreen Lewis’s funeral was meant to have been covered.

Under the proposals people will be able to apply for LPA online for the first time and includes increased protection for vulnerable people from abuse and fraud.

My sister wants to split the proceeds of the sale and use that and the sale of her own home to buy something for her, her husband and mum nearer to me, and other family, so we are able to help out.

With the frequent moves during my service career, including two tours (six years) in Germany, this made employment for my wife a difficulty.

Around 500,000 elderly expats live in countries where their state pension is frozen at whatever amount it was set at when they moved abroad.

Many gold-plated defined benefit pension schemes have a cap on their inflation protection, which is now being breached as the cost of living surges.

Can you advise on my position regarding getting my six years’ pension payments made by them and whether they are liable for my contributions also.

I wanted to activate my mother’s power of attorney, but branch staff pushed me from pillar to post as I searched for someone who could help.

A drive to seek out the poorest pensioners in the country to urge them to sign up for pension credit is being launched by finance industry campaigners.

In 2002 Lizzy and Paul Bernthal (pictured with daughter Rodena) decided to save their child benefit payments into a pension for Rodena’s retirement.

It means there is now a strong likelihood that the 47,000 customers of the company will be left with near worthless plans.

A woman with a five year age gap with her male partner could potentially be around £225k worse off, with a pension pot size of just over £214k, which is 51% less than the older male partner.

I have a large mortgage which currently is set to run until age 75. However, I will make overpayments and potential lump sum payments to pay it off by age 67 when I intend to retire.

Retired teacher Nigel Hughes, pictured, paid around £1,600 in summer 2020, but the payment vanished and his repeated complaints and attempts to track it down were ignored.

Unregulated legal firms claim that by transferring property and cash into a trust it will protect their assets from care home fees and inheritance tax.

Investing experts frown on only holding one fund given the risk involved, though some will make an exception for a multi-asset fund if it is broad enough.

At present I have a defined contribution pension where my company contributes around £1,000 per month and I make a salary sacrifice and pay approximately £2,000 per month.

Retirement experts are divided over whether 60-somethings should be offered the option of drawing the state pension early on smaller payments. .

Philips Trust Corporation offers will writing services, probate administration, inheritance tax planning and funeral plans. It also manages trusts on behalf of clients.

Lee Matthew Frost took our cheque for £1,000. But the Office of the Public Guardian says there is no record of him submitting anything.

Rising retirement age and surging house prices mean many people are both working and paying off their home loans for longer.

Patricia Coulthard, pictured, is one of nearly 500k expats around the world whose pensions are frozen at whatever amount they were set when they moved abroad.

Four in five workers are now saving into a pension, compared to fewer than half a decade ago, new figures from the ONS.

Experts warn that following a crackdown on pre-paid funeral plans, greedy salesmen have already shifted their attention to pre-paid probate plans.

Low-income households, women and people in their thirties and forties are the most concerned, new research shows.

We are now faced with the confusing probate process and want to know if there is anything else we can do to limit our tax burden?

A petition has now been launched demanding that the Government set up an emergency fund to support victims Ernest and Pat Hughes paid £3,395.

There has been no communication from the DWP regarding this and all phone calls to them requesting the information has failed to shed any light on the matter.

Payments will rise by 3.1 per cent. However, the increases will quickly be absorbed by the cost of living.

I’m undecided which financial product would be most advantageous, and with inflation rising at present I want to invest not keep money in cash. Ray Black, boss of Money Minder, responds.

Potential traps include forking out too much tax, limiting your ability to pay into your pension in future, and even running your pot completely dry, warn experts.

‘Nanny state’ plans to force pension savers to invest cautiously ahead of retirement could cost them thousands of pounds, experts warn.

My wife earns around £11,300 working at the local school. If she now has to buy NI contributions then it seems she will be considerably worse off than she was before. Is this the case?

Have you received a tax code for 2022/23 that is incorrect? Tax expert Heather Rogers explains the most common errors that crop up, and how to get HMRC to put them right.

Pension credit applications need to be ‘decluttered’ and in future automated to help older people facing rocketing bills, says Henry Tapper, who chairs industry networking platform Pension Playpen.

A new ‘flexi-retirement’ trend is emerging with more retirees deciding to work part-time and many retirees say they will primarily rely on the state pension.

Campaigners are demanding the Government steps in to protects 46,000 funeral savers following the collapse of Safe Hands.

Ruth Blakemore (pictured) co-founded Life Ledger after watching her father struggle to close her mother’s accounts with various firm after she died.

The number of families claiming child benefit has slumped again, blasting a hole in many women’s future state pensions due to a crucial but little known link between the payments.

In 2016 I paid Safe Hands for a cremation service. I have since read that they may not have the funds to honour my funeral. The firm is now in administration.

The news, which has left many customers distraught, follows the appointment of administrators at Safe Hands Plans.

Pensioners claim complaints have gone ignored, phone lines are ‘a joke’, and staff continue to make empty promises of cases being escalated.

Older people struggling with higher bills received no help from the Chancellor today and will be forced to bump up pension withdrawals to make ends meet, warn experts.

Women born in the 1950s missed out on up to £50,000 after the state pension age was raised from 60 to 66 between 1995 and 2011.

This year marks a decade since the introduction of auto-enrolment rules that require both employees and employers to pay into a pension.

I have a near full employment history of making NI contributions, the majority of which were made under contracted out arrangements.

It will be little consolation for the loss of your health, but there are ways to use your pension pot to relieve money troubles should you find yourself in this sad situation.

Those who have moved commercial properties into Sipps or SSAS could be eligible for rebates of around £50,000 in some cases.

I had to sign a document from the administrators running my old scheme which covered the ‘equalisaion of Guaranteed Minimum Pension’. But now they are saying I am not owed anything.

Experts have warned that cutting pension contributions to pay higher energy bills could cost young workers tens-of-thousands by retirement age.

While inflation is tipped to surge above 8% this year, the state pension will rise by just 3.1% in April – when energy bills are hiked by more than 50%.

I am confused when talking to financial advisers about a transfer, as their fees and costs seem to be high, both for the transfer and ongoing costs.

If you are new to investing, and feel lukewarm at the prospect, one easy and potentially lower cost option open to people with a work pension is to top up investments already held in their retirement fund.

Older people relying on an income from investments in retirement need to be more vigilant than most, in case there is suddenly a need to adjust or even halt withdrawals and lean on other savings for a time.

An estimated 850,000 pension savers are invested in lifestyling funds, whose value has plummeted in recent months due to rising inflation.

Do you ever receive your tax code in the post, look at it and not really understand what it means? Tax expert Heather Rogers explains how to check it is correct, so you don’t overpay tax.

I am 50 and she is 40. Ideally I would retire at 60 and my wife at 50. My logic is that my wife can access her own funds that have a good sized income.

Couple battled for nearly 18 months with Wokingham Borough Council, which attempted to revoke a £1,200 council tax reduction after a belated £13,800 payout from the DWP.

Lawyer Spencer Gardner, pictured, looks at the issues faced by a woman forced to fight off a council raid on a £13,800 state pension lump sum intended to redress a 12-year DWP blunder.

The Department of Health has approved plans to make NHS workers on less than £21,500 pay up to 1.5% more of their wages into the pension scheme.

The Association of British Insurers says games like Wordle (pictured) could be used to make pensions more appealing to younger generations.

I need some advice on what I should be paying in to get a pension that meets the cost of living and a little extra for pleasure such as holidays.

From 11 April, state pension payouts will rise by 3.1 per cent, and be based on Consumer Price Index figures from September.

Lasting power of attorney allows people to appoint someone they trust, usually a family member or friend, to take control of their affairs if they fall ill.

Tens of thousands of women have been underpaid state pension in a £1bn scandal. Tax may be due on the large backpayments. Accountant Heather Rogers explains what to do.

The pension contribution limit for non-earners has been frozen at £3,600 for two decades, curbing what people with no current income can save for old age.

What could she do to protect her share of the house from being borrowed against or the house sold and the money spent? Lawyer Nicola Plant, pictured, replies.

Our combined income of approximately £1,400 per month puts us just over the threshold, which has not significantly changed for years, on pension credit We do not qualify for grants or allowances.

A lot of women are understandably asking if they missed out on thousands of pounds in state pension, and we explain how to find out and what to do if you are owed money by the DWP.

Am I entitled to stay as I have been caring for my mother and have nowhere to go on to? Would my family have to take me to court if they wanted to sell the house? Lawyer Richard Marshall replies.

Is there a point or time where the rest is tax free, or is the remaining 75 per cent taxable and how is the tax taken off?

The Prime Minister and Chancellor insist the NI levy to raise £12billion would go ahead, defying resistance.

People determined to retire early have to accept a significantly lower income or risk their pension fund running dry, a new study warns.

I’m currently in my mid 40s and am in the company salary sacrifice scheme, putting in 7% while the company puts in 4% of my pay. However, I can add a little more.

With property and pensions potentially at stake, as well as serious questions about both partners’ financial futures to get financial advice early on.

Few investors have decided to go anywhere near it, while some who have could be nursing losses of thousands of pounds, our figures reveal.

For many, retirement is a time to kick back and relax, but many are using it as a chance to embark upon a new career. Kim O’Donnell set up Leo Charley & Me.

The Department for Work and Pensions has faced a barrage of criticism over the fiasco which saw 134,000 mostly women miss out over decades.

A new savings and resilience barometer launched by Hargreaves Lansdown looked at how likely people at different ages and income levels are to achieve a moderate income or above.

Filing a self-assessment tax return can also prevent those on higher incomes from being caught out by charges for breaching how much they can put in their pension pot each year.

I tried to sign on to claim state pension credits (anticipating gaps) but the DWP automatically closed my claim down when I tried to do this online.

People 70s-plus often put off thinking about giving money away to their children when they were younger, but by then there is not much time left, explains Osbornes Law.

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.

Pensions are often neglected in divorce settlements despite their value to both partners. Find out how they can be divided fairly and some of the worst traps.

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

My concern, which was shared by my mother, is that if the funds are given directly they may never actually be paid into the pensions!

She has £30,000 saved and owns her property outright. Will I have to move out? Will the savings and property be used for her care?

We are joint tenants of both properties. We paid stamp duty as a second home for the second flat. What is the situation if one of us goes into a care home? Lawyer James Urquhart-Burton replies.

I want to make sure there are not any arguments between my children regarding selling or keeping the family home when I die. Lawyer Katie Alsop replies.

My late father died intestate in January. His only asset was his home, which has been valued at £240,000. Our mother passed away prior to my father and she had no will.

The average age people expect to get shot of their mortgage is 59, new research reveals. But what can you do to avoid mortgage debt in retirement?

After being made redundant by British Airways last year, I have retrained as a teacher. I have two BA pensions and am wondering whether to move both or either into the teachers’ scheme.

Savers collect a string of pension pots during their working lives but only one in four have merged any of them, new research reveals.

Stockbroking experts from Killik & Co explain what to consider when investing at that age, and the contingency plans your father should put in place if he becomes unable to handle his own affairs.

All my mother’s accounts were closed and the money transferred, but the bank will not give details. I don’t get it! How come she could just help herself to everything and what can I do about it?

He uses the pension as the bond between us, because he knows my financial situation. I truly cannot stay because of this. Lawyer Steven Gasser, pictured left, replies.

There are two beneficiaries, my sister and her daughter who is also the executor. Do you think it is possible for me to make a claim for a share of the will? If so what do I do?

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?