I see that, according to a 'Pensions expert', the value of the average 'final salary pension' (FSP) Savings Pot fell by five percent (from £153,000 to £146,000) between November and December 2024.

XPS Group, a specialist pension consultancy which compiles the Transfer Value Index, has found that a sharp rise in gilt yields towards the end of 2024, along with lower inflation, means that someone wanting to cash-in their final salary pension now would get less for their money.

Pension transfers [when someone in a final salary scheme requests to cash-in their pension] increased sharply in popularity after the introduction of 'Pensions Freedoms', with many people choosing to cash-in their FSP in the belief that this would be beneficial. However, over the last couple of years, it has become a 'less popular' option, with transfer values lower after the 'gilt yield' crisis following the Liz Truss 'mini budget' of late 2022.

Final salary schemes tend to be more generous than other types of workplace pension, although they can be less flexible: for example, some schemes do not permit withdrawal of lump sums in addition to your 25 percent tax free cash entitlement.