Yes good advice from COnny (afaik!).
Couple of things - If you transfer the lump to another pension company, you can put it into something which can have earning potential. Don't just let it sit. I have some in a not very risky stock related thing which went from 6xx to 7xx in the last year.
After taking to PensionWise, you would probably learn useful stuff from eg Hargereaves Lansdown. They will not of course give free "pension advice" but they WILL tell you about the possibilities they can provide - and they can provide a wide range. I'm not particularly suggesting you should put any money with them. They will answer, "Suppose I did xyz?" questions.
Before you stop paying NI, make sure you have enough credits to get you full pension at 68 or whenever it will be for you. That's one phone call; they will write to you in a few days if they don't have your case details ready. It can depend if you ever contracted in/out, etc in the past. If, say you're a few years short you can pay. One way is to "become self employed" where the Class 2 NI contributions for small earnings are £3.05 a week, but your years will add up.
If you aren't earning anything much and are therefore paying little or no tax, surprisingly it can make sense to pay £2880 into a pension every year, until you're 70.
Because - If you pay that in, HMG will add the tax % (using words loosely here) so it gets upped to £3600. You can take that out gross after a year, and only pay tax if you're over your personal allowance. Ask HL about that, they will tell you ins and outs. You can have as many pensions as you like.
Couple of things - If you transfer the lump to another pension company, you can put it into something which can have earning potential. Don't just let it sit. I have some in a not very risky stock related thing which went from 6xx to 7xx in the last year.
After taking to PensionWise, you would probably learn useful stuff from eg Hargereaves Lansdown. They will not of course give free "pension advice" but they WILL tell you about the possibilities they can provide - and they can provide a wide range. I'm not particularly suggesting you should put any money with them. They will answer, "Suppose I did xyz?" questions.
Before you stop paying NI, make sure you have enough credits to get you full pension at 68 or whenever it will be for you. That's one phone call; they will write to you in a few days if they don't have your case details ready. It can depend if you ever contracted in/out, etc in the past. If, say you're a few years short you can pay. One way is to "become self employed" where the Class 2 NI contributions for small earnings are £3.05 a week, but your years will add up.
If you aren't earning anything much and are therefore paying little or no tax, surprisingly it can make sense to pay £2880 into a pension every year, until you're 70.
Because - If you pay that in, HMG will add the tax % (using words loosely here) so it gets upped to £3600. You can take that out gross after a year, and only pay tax if you're over your personal allowance. Ask HL about that, they will tell you ins and outs. You can have as many pensions as you like.
