If you are stepping down a tax bracket when you retire, then making single lump sum payments into your pension really can be money for nothing.

The lump sum is not a bonus, but it feels like a bonus.

The former pension minister, the Liberal Democrat Steve Webb said I was trying to abolish the lump sum. Instead, we are going to keep the lump sum and abolish the Liberal Democrats.

It was one of times when you get a lump in your throat and try not to start crying in public, ... I was also proud I was a part of it. I was happy for him and his family.

I think many people end up taking buyout offers quickly because $100,000 (or some other lump-sum payment) can seem like a great deal of money, only to end up realizing after the fact that it wasn't enough to justify leaving. People need to avoid the wide-eyed feeling of I'm winning the lottery and make sure they think about if I am 50 I still got decades ahead of me.

ride it when you retire.