With hindsight, i would of taken the higher cash out of the pension but i took the lower amount and the higher Monthly amount. I had not thought i would pay tax when the state pension came in at 65. My Brother who has no private pension got 650 pound at 65 and i got 600 pounds.
My other Brother made sure he was broke at 65 and had a lovely motorhome and house and was able to claim pension credit allowing him to have nice holidays in his motorhome.
Everything has to be carefully looked at. I put my pension cash out into premium bonds and the prizes are tax free but money is safe. I always win 650 most years but last year was about 1300 pounds.
Best advise though is to stay clear of financial advisors who will lose it all.
Bloke i worked with just took out his entire pension, cleared his mortgage, gave up 2 days of work a week. Quite a good idea for him as he has elderly parents and their house will become his within about 10 years. It can seem easy to work out but i made a small mistake. Other than that,not working has made little difference to what i have to spend each month.
I paid in 27 years and sure glad i did.