Category: Retirement
Pension Scammers
Don’t let scammers enjoy your hard-earned pension proceeds. Anyone can be the victim of a pension scam, no matter how savvy they think they are. It’s important that everyone can spot the warning signs...
What’s Your Magic Number?
Retiring is a huge life event. And the very concept of retirement is changing with phased retirement becoming more common. The way we access our pension is now a lot more flexible, and it’s no secret that in the UK we’re living longer than ever before which means we need to make the right choices...
State Pension Deferral
A significant number of people working past the State Pension age could be paying unnecessary tax on their State Pension, according to new research [1]. This is because they failed to take up the option of deferring their State Pension until they stopped work. As a result, their entire State Pensionis being taxed, in some cases at 40%.
Retirement Income
‘Will I be able to afford the retirement lifestyle I want?’is a question that many people ask but struggle to figure out. There are many ways to assess your likely income in retirement and work out how much you need to put away now to enjoy the kind of lifestyle you want in later life...
For the Life you Want
For today’s retirees, retirement has changed almost beyond recognition since their parents’ day. Building a retirement fund requires saving enough money to pay your bills and continue living comfortably when you are no longer generating an income...
Managing Risk
Many retirees are at risk of overlooking their pension finances by falling into an avoidable trap, according to new research. A third (36%) of people keeping their pension invested through retirement could be hit harder by falling markets as they do not have a cash safety net to fall back on, research has found. And even though two thirds (64%) of retirees are holding cash in reserve...
Pension Freedoms
Although each generation will likely face different challenges and opportunities, achieving retirement readiness will require actions common to us all. We all know that our ageing population and increased life expectancy are putting a strain on government finances...
Funding your Golden Years
Pensions have the reputation of being confusing, but they needn’t be. Private pensions are usually used by people who don’t have access to a workplace pension scheme, but you can also have one if you are employed or not working. They work in much the same way as workplace pension schemes, but...
Pensions Shake Up
For many, the idea of retirement means getting away from the stresses of everyday life. But with living costs rising and interest rates low, people need to think about how to generate extra income from their savings in retirement...
The Pension Countdown has Begun
When you are at the point of retiring, the new pension freedoms have opened up all sorts of alternative strategies to taking your pension benefits. The very concept of retirement is changing...
To Transfer or not to Transfer
More than 100,000 people transferred out of Defined Benefit (DB) pensions in 2017/18. A DB pension scheme is one where the amount you’re paid is based on how many years you’ve worked for your employer and the salary you’ve earned...
Taking Your Pension
Under the new flexible pension freedoms rules, you can now mix and match various options, using different parts of one pension pot or using separate or combined pots...
How to Make the Most of your Retirement
Even if retirement isn’t far away, there are steps you could take to increase your eventual retirement income. This applies both to your state pension entitlement as well as to any personal or workplace pension pots...
Turbocharge Your Pension
If you’re still working, what kind of life would you like to lead when you’ve said goodbye to the 9-to-5? Saving for your retirement is essential if you want the financial freedom to enjoy your later years. After all, you’ll still want to do all the things you love now – and probably a few others too...
Retirement Planning: Tax Matters!
Every client’s story is different. Each one is unique. We invest significant time to understand your very personal circumstances. We do this for all our clients, and setting your retirement income target is an essential part of this process...
Long-Forgotten Pension Plans
If you’ve worked for two or three different employers, it’s possible you could have a workplace pension from each of them. You might also have set up a personal pension, so they can add up quickly. So how do you manage them properly? It’s time to consolidate…
Securing Your Financial Future
If you really want to give your money the potential to grow and you don’t need immediate access to it, think about investing it rather than just saving. You might want to invest for major life events like retirement or paying your child’s or grandchild’s university fees.
Guide to Retirement Planning
The pension freedoms rule changes mean that we’ll be increasingly in charge of our pensions, both while we’re building up our retirement pot and when we start to draw an income. It’s therefore more important than ever to plan our retirement saving from an early age...
Consolidating your Pension Pots
Have you ever considered moving and consolidating your pension to another scheme or provider? There are a whole host of reasons why people might want to do this before they reach retirement...
Pension Reforms
The government has introduced comprehensive reforms to the pension rules over the previous few years. One important change, which may have been overlooked by some savers, is the reduction of the lifetime allowance that applies to pension savings. The lifetime allowance is the total amount you can hold within all your pensions without incurring an additional tax charge when you extract money from the pot...