It’s session number 103, and for the first time ever, I’m bringing back a guest who isn’t Justin Urquhart Stewart! You may remember Abraham Okusanya from session 74, the most downloaded episode of all time. Well, I’ve brought Abraham back on to talk about the dangers of what he calls pound cost ravaging on portfolios in retirement. Stay tuned for more…

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Here are the questions I asked Abraham:

• Hello again Abraham! Can you remind us of who you are and what you do?
• You've written a report called Pound Cost Ravaging, which is a play on words. Can you explain what pound cost averaging is, for both savers and spenders?
• With the new pension flexibility rules, all kinds of avenues for taking benefits from pension schemes come into play. What are some things people need to be aware of when considering taking benefits from their pensions?
• Let's say someone wants to take a regular income from their pension via a drawdown plan, what effect can regular withdrawals have on the value of their fund?
• Is there an optimum level of withdrawals someone can make which will mean they never run out of money?
• What are the factors that determine what level of income someone can take?
• What about ad hoc lump sums? Is there a good or bad time to take them?
• I've heard that starting drawdown when markets are high means that the likelihood of pond cost ravaging increases – is this true?
• Given markets are at historic highs right now, what should people be thinking about when considering drawdown?
• Can you talk about lifestyling of pensions? Is this a good strategy for some people?
• What are your views on pensions freedoms generally?
• What about annuity buy-back?

Abraham answers these questions with intelligence, wit, and in such a way that anyone can understand the complex factors at work here. Remember, you can click the button below for a full transcript.

Abraham can be contacted at the Finalytiq website or on Twitter at @abrahamonmoney

Summary

I’m sure you’ll agree there was some good stuff there. I intend to pick up on this session before too long with some practical to-do’s for getting investing right in retirement when you’re taking an income.

I would reiterate the seriousness of the situation when you’re looking to invest your money to provide an income for the rest of your life. There are so many variables to hold in tension when putting the portfolio together, and regular reviews are essential. Obviously an adviser can help here, but the future session will hopefully give you the bones of things to DIY if you want to…

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Shout out to Rob Jeffery and Tom Page, both of whom sent me amazing emails this week with feedback and ideas for the show. Feel free to email me too on pete@meaningfulmoney.tv

Next Session Announcement

Next time we'll be talking about how pensions work, from tax relief on the way in, to how the money grows and how it all works when you take money out – it’s worth a refresh with all the changes which are coming into play.

If you have a question on this subject, or any other financial query that you want answering here on the show, then the best way to do that is to leave me a voicemail at meaningfulmoney.tv/askpete