My husband and I found a good financial adviser and had a complete review of our pension situation about 2 years ago. It was really good, quite reassuring and we were surprised that things were better than we had expected. We have both been self employed most of the our working lives and we did pensions at various stages when we could afford it. My main pension has been dormant for many years but has still grown. I recently joined the company pension where I work now, doing part time casual work, as the pension was such good scheme. We hope to leave the money in the pensions for as long as possible and possibly do 'draw down' as and when we need it. I would strongly recommend getting professional advice - gone are the days when financial advisers were commission based, though I would be wary of advise from any bank - the one we found on recommendation from others, charges a fee when action is needed so we've not paid out anything so far as she felt our savings were fine as they are for now. We will seek her advice before doing anything.
Like so many things in life, talk to maybe 3 different advisers that people have recommended to you and see which one you like and trust. It is a minefield out there and I think there will be many people who will get conned or do the wrong thing. DG x
