What happens to pension fund when I die?

[trekie]

if i take out a pension, what happens to fund if i snuff it a year after i retire

i have a pension i have had for 25 years. could someone tell me what would happen when i retire. I understand i can take out a percentage of it as a lump sum, however, what would happen to the fund if i were to get hit by a meteorite the day before i retire. Also what would happen to the fund if i were to be hit by another damn meteorite the day after i retire , what would happen to the fund.?

 

[Conan]

It depends on the type of pension plan.
If you have a Personal pension Plan (self employed) or an individual Executive Pension Plan then your options on retirement are:

• A tax-free lump sum of 25% of the pension fund
• The remaining 75% can be used to buy an annuity (a guaranteed income for life) or invested into an Approved Retirement Fund (ARF) from which you can draw down income as required (taxable) or you can invest in a combination of Annuity and ARF.

If you were to die before you retire, the value of the fund would be paid to your estate (Personal Pension) or in the case of an Executive Pension a lump sum of up to 4 times salary is paid to your estate and any balance of the pension fund must be used to buy an annuity for a spouse.
If you were to die immediately after you retire, the benefits depend on what you did with the 75% on retirement. If you bought an ARF, then the ARF could be taken over by your spouse or if no spouse then the value goes to children or into your estate. If you bought an annuity, then it depends on the type of annuity. If you bought an annuity with a minimum guarantee payment period (say 5 years) then the balance of the 5 years is paid to your estate. If you bought a joint-life annuity, then the annuity would continue to your spouse. When you both die, no further payments are made.
I think you should take some advice as regards the Annuity/ARf options as to which might suit you best.