Pension Drawdown

A Pension Drawdown (or Income Drawdown, Income Withdrawal, Pension Release as they are sometimes called) is a personal pension plan from which you can draw an income. Since April 2006 the official name for this type of plan is an Unsecured Pension (USP) and from April 2011 they will be known as Capped Drawdown and Flexible Drawdown.

A Pension Drawdown plan allows you to unlock the tax-free cash from your pension plans without taking out an annuity.

You retain ownership of the funds and the funds continue to be invested. A pension drawdown is an alternative to an annuity which gives greater flexibility. The main features of a Pension Drawdown plan are:

You can take a 25% tax-free lump sum from age 55
You can take an income between 0 and 100% of the rate set by the Government Actuaries Department (GAD).
The income you withdraw can be varied at any time up to the maximum amount to suit your needs or control your tax liabilities
The maximum income is reviewed and recalculated every three years currently
You can transfer any number of pension plans (personal and occupational) to one single income drawdown plan
You retain ownership of your pension fund and control of your investment
Choice of death benefits for dependents
Your Spouse can receive 100% of your fund on your death

To learn more about Income Drawdown and the options available visit the following pages or call us FREE on 0800 03 04 008 to talk to one of our drawdown specialists.

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Financial Advisers

Jonathan Walker
Jonathan is the director and joint owner of the Pension Drawdown Company.

Robert Bolton
Robert is a practising Barrister and is also fully qualified as a Diplomaed Financial Adviser.

Bob Diamond
Bob is a Pension Specialist who has been with the company since its incorporation in 1996. Bob has been a financial adviser since 1989.

Andrew Ross
Andrew is a diplomaed financial adviser with a history in banking.

Roger Easterbrook
Roger is a diplomaed financial adviser with a background in Executive Search.

Click here for more team members.

Market Monitor

Updated: 14th May 2012

Heavy selling following the elections in Europe and banking woes in Spain resulted in markets ending the week lower. Weekend elections in Greece and France set a volatile tone and reminded investors that politics really matter in financial markets; political wrangling in Athens to form a government resulted in threats to unravel the country's bailout deal and raised the prospect of Greece exiting the euro area.

Global stocks had their longest losing period in six months during the week and the euro its worse run of daily reverses since 2008.

However, Thursday marked a turning point as investors cautiously returned to markets and risk assets showed resilience following $2bn trading losses at JPMorgan Chase (which also occurred on Thursday). In addition, the Michigan survey of US consumer confidence, which rose to a four-year high in May, also helped to provide support and end the week on a more upbeat note.

The increasingly gloomy outlook for the global economy sent commodity prices to their second week of losses, and gold retreated to four month lows. Weakness in the global economy drove demand for safe-haven government bonds, which pushed German bunds and UK gilts to record lows, while peripheral eurozone debt came under heavy selling pressure.

Important information: This update is intended to be for information purposes only.

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