Pensions

Right now, retirement might seem a very long way off, but it’s never too early to think about your pension. Ideally, we should all start planning for it from the day we start work. No-one wants to worry about money in their later years, and the way to help prevent that happening is to save regularly into a pension throughout your working life.

Despite pensions never being out of the media headlines, many people still leave their retirement planning well into their middle years. However, the earlier you can start building up a fund for your retirement, the less it will cost you. We can give you straightforward advice on all the different types of pension arrangements such as:

  • Personal pension plans,
  • Self-invested personal pensions
  • Small self-administered schemes
  • Workplace pensions
  • Final Salary Company Pension Schemes and State Pension provisions
  • Drawdown and annuity comparisons

Plus, if you’ve had several jobs over your working life, we can help you decide whether you’d be better off moving your pension savings to just one scheme to improve your retirement prospects.

By transferring your occupational pension scheme benefits into a personal arrangement, you may be giving up rights to guaranteed benefits, known levels of pension income and increases that will be applied in the future.

Why you need to think about your pension

There are some simple but compelling reasons why you should think about pension planning now:

The state pension

 The flat-rate state pension amounts to around £8,000 a year. Plus, by 2028, the age at which you can claim it will have risen to 67.

Tax relief

If you make contributions to a pension, or if your employer deducts your payments from your salary, you automatically get 20 per cent tax relief as an additional deposit into your pension pot. If you are a higher-rate taxpayer, you can claim an extra 20 per cent, while those paying additional-rate tax can claim back an extra 25 per cent.

Compound interest helps your savings grow

The sooner you start making contributions, the longer your money will have to grow. In today’s climate of low interest rates, compound interest can play an important part in investment growth.

A workplace pension is equivalent to getting a pay rise

If you save into a workplace scheme, your employer should match some or all of your contributions, providing a welcome boost to your pension.

 A tax-free lump sum when you retire

When you retire, you can typically withdraw 25 per cent of your savings in the form of a tax-free lump sum.

So, if you’re self-employed, an employee, work part-time, a company director, run your own business or have accumulated pension pots with past employers, we can offer you advice. After all, retirement should be an enjoyable and fulfilling stage of life, not a time spent worrying about money.

A pension is a long-term investment and the fund value may fluctuate and can go down. Your eventual income may depend upon the size of the fund at retirement, future interest rates and tax legislation.

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate occupational pensions and some types of employee benefits (i.e. auto-enrolment in a workplace pension).