Pension Lump Sum.

[DJHawkes]

I've had a letter from House of Fraser and they say they can pay out a lump sum on my pension, it also says I will pay tax at 20% on all but the first £614.64. I can leave it where it is and take the annual pension in 8 years time. I am thinking I will take the lump sum, it's not a lot.
I only paid into the fund from January 1978 until June 1978 and then I left to have my first child, I think I paid in about £70 in all. Now they say I can have £2089.78 after tax. Or I could leave it where it is and it will be moved to their new scheme and continue to grow and then in 8 years time when i retire i would get either a lump sum then or a small amount monthly.
What would be the best for me? They will pay it on 29th November and it would mean I could go for a better car now that will probably last me til i retire,

[DJHawkes]

apparently it is about 'deferred members' which i assume means those like myself that contributed at some point but could not get the payments back after leaving, in my case i was 26 and only contributed for 6 months but they were never able to refund the contributions due to the rules over the years, it's not a bad return i guess . there is a paragraph about the £18,000 threshold and it also says this payment is after agreement between the trustees and HOF. It also mentions the lifetime allowance which is £60,000 per annum or £1,500,000, that definitely doesn't affect me!

[factor-fiction]

I'm not sure I'd bother with an IFA for a small pension like this (as the small pot may be swallowed up by fees), but if you have various pots scattered around it may be worth using an IFA to review all your pension arrangements