Following last week's Rescue Your Pension special, many readers wrote to our clinic for advice. Here is an edited selection of your questions - and the experts' responses

We posted your questions about pensions on our website at guardian.co.uk/money on Wednesday for our panel of experts to answer. On the panel were Martin Bamford, an independent financial adviser at Informed Choice, Laith Khalaf of Hargreaves Lansdown, and Richard Kitch of Age Concern and Help the Aged. Answers may have been edited but full versions have been sent to the readers concerned.

Q: My 65th birthday is next week and I am undecided as whether to defer my state pension or not. Does it pay to defer for as long as possible? Would a change in the bank rate change one's decision? And is there an optimum age at which to cease deferment for maximum benefit?
Deryck Johnson

A: Martin Bamford says:
Your decision to defer will largely depend upon your need for income. If you do not require this additional source of income, the increases in deferment depend how you ultimately decide to take the deferred entitlement; you can receive either a bigger pension or a lump sum.

If you defer your state pension for a minimum of five weeks you will receive an increased payment of 10.4% per year. The lump sum is based on the weekly state pension entitlement you would have received plus 2% above the Bank of England base rate (currently 0.5%). To receive this you must be deferred for at least a year.

Any increase in the base rate would increase the interest you would receive, but I would not base your decision on this or try to calculate an optimum age. Instead consider your income needs and assess when you think your personal income sources will not be sufficient. Remember also that the state pension will incur income tax, so you may not wish to pay any more tax than necessary.

Q: I am a retired teacher and my wife, who is also a teacher, will soon qualify for early retirement at 55. We are both members of the Teachers Pension Scheme. How secure is the final salary status of this scheme for current pension recipients and those who are deciding whether to retire early?
Bob and Rosaleen Murphy

A: Laith Khalaf says:
It is backed by the government, there is simply no better guarantee of benefits. Nothing is 100% guaranteed, but this is as close as it gets.

Q: The company I currently work for runs a money purchase scheme and I have been a member of the scheme since 2003. The estimated pension will be around £2,300 per annum from the age of 60.

I have currently built up £600 worth of annual pension through this scheme. My company pay in 11% of salary.

I have the option of taking this amount (less tax and NI) as cash - in other words pulling out of the pension scheme.

I am wondering if I would be better off putting this amount (£200) into an Isa each month and moving some into equities as time goes on, thus building up a reasonable lump sum to go with other lump sums that I have. The returns from this pension seems to be paltry and the capital sum actually decreased last year.
Pete (Bristol)

A: Martin Bamford says:
"An 11% employer pension contribution is pretty generous, and as you have already pointed out, it would be subject to income tax and National Insurance if you took it as a cash payment instead.

This really comes down to a question of flexibility. If you use the money to build an additional pension fund, the benefits are restricted to 25% of the fund as tax-free cash (a pension commencement lump sum) and the remainder of the fund being used to provide income in retirement. If you take the cash now (after tax), you can access 100% of the money when you want and how you want.

After tax and NI, you could utilise your full £7,200 Isa allowance each tax year with the cash, as it will be less than £600 per month.

In terms of actually investing the money, there is little difference between the pension or Isa environment. You have access to a similar range of funds and the tax treatment of the funds is similar.

Q: I am a 61-year-old married woman working for local government four days a week. But due to cuts I have the option of taking early voluntary retirement this year. I will get a lump sum from my employer and an annual pensions. I also have AVCs that were valued last year at around £18,000.

My question is on the AVCs and what option I should take.

Should I add the value to my tax-free lump sum; purchase additional service to increase my annual pension or purchase a separate annuity from Prudential which administers the in-house AVC contracts?
Anne Wells

A: Laith Khalaf says:
I would investigate the possibility of buying added years or alternatively using your AVC to fund your tax-free cash and thereby increasing the annual pension payable. If this is not possible and you do end up buying an annuity, shop around - don't just accept the Pru's rate, it may not be the best.