Hello and welcome to the Not the Martin Lewis podcast, which rather confusingly is an offshoot of my normal The Martin Lewis podcast. The difference? Well, there are some subjects that are outside my wheelhouse or I can't answer questions on due to regulations. So in this podcast, I'm joined by specialists

and I'm asking, not answering the questions. Well, it's me. I might chip in with the odd note or two.

And crucially, too, it's you who sets the agenda. It's all about getting answers to your questions.

And this podcast is all about how you take your money out of your pension the best way.

We'll be talking about when is the right time to do it,

how the 25% tax-free lump sum really works,

and how to avoid the huge pension withdrawal tax trap.

Then a key primer on pension drawdown and annuities,

crucial tools that you may need when taking money out for your pension.

And should you take your tax-free lump sum to clear the mortgage?

That and lots more.

Play the theme tune.

I got meals. I got paid. Lots more. Play the theme tune. So joining me today to talk about how you take your work or private pension when you're near retirement or after retirement, in fact, is Charlotte Jackson, head of guidance at the Money and Pension Service, and Mihir Chalguli, who's a wealth manager at Tideway Wealth.

Now, we talked in detail when we did the program

on how to build up your pension about the difference between guidance and advice, but I think

that would be useful just as a very short one to start again. Charlotte, you and your organisation

do guidance and you do it for free. Anyone can call you up, can they, to talk about pensions.

They can. We're a government-backed organisation and we provide free, independent and impartial guidance.

That means that we'll talk to you about the things that you need to be thinking about.

We'll give you some signposts around what you should be considering about doing next.

But what we won't do is we won't tell you what to do and we won't tell you what products or services you should be buying. So,

this is an absolute Martin must rule. If you are thinking of taking your money out of your

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