As an advisor, we can do it all pretty quickly, as it is something that we do as part of our everyday job. It is usually the client who wants to have all their ducks in a row and wants to have everything ready to go well before retirement. I have a few clients who contacted me a year in advance of retiring, which is way more notice than I needed but it is what they were comfortable with so we stayed in touch over the year and about a month from retirement, we started the paperwork.
If you are in an occupational pension scheme, the last contribution has to be submitted and invested before the life company can start maturing the pension so it will be after you have left.
If you have an ARF, you can make as many withdrawals as you want. You can take it as monthly, quarterly, annual income. There is no optimal time for withdrawals, take it when you need it. You are getting a lifetime of income out of this, so sometimes you will make a withdrawal at a great time, others at a bad time. The is no difference in charges for taking one withdrawal or 12 withdrawals. If you do opt for the annual withdrawal, to satisfy imputed distribution rules, it is the value as at 30th November each year.
Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)