Planning for retirement can be a daunting prospect, especially when it comes to your pension. But the longer you put it off, the smaller your eventual income could be.

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It’s best to start investing as soon as you can, even if it’s just a small amount – once you've started, it becomes a habit. For a guide, simply think about the sort of income you’d like alongside your state pension - how much will you need to live on?

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The benefit of a pension is that, thanks to tax relief on your contributions, it's one of the most efficient ways to invest for your retirement.

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Whether you're new to pensions and looking into investing, or whether your retirement is just a few years away and you want financial advice, we can offer the right help for you to make the most of your money now and in the future.

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A Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) is a special type of personal pension. As well as being tax efficient and offering flexible benefit options, you can choose to invest in a greater range of investments than a personal pension. We have selected a specialist provider, Barnett Waddingham, to offer you a SIPP. 

You pay into the plan, tax relief is added from the government which is invested to provide you with a private pension 'pot' (fund value). Then you use this pot of money to take benefits during your retirement. And, from the minute you start investing, your investments can grow free of capital gains tax and UK income tax.

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There are several ways to take money from your pension pot, and you can start doing this from the age of 55 (57 from 2028). However, no matter what decision you make, you don’t have to stop working once you’ve started taking your benefits – it’s up to you.

When you take a flexible income or lump sums  and you die before the age of 75, any money left in your pension pot can be passed on to your beneficiaries usually tax free. If you die after the age of 75, any money you pass on will be subject to income tax when withdrawn.

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Annuities   With UK life expectancy (the average number of years to live at any given age) generally improving, one consequence is that our finances must also last longer in retirement. One option, therefore, is to buy an annuity - a guaranteed income for the rest of your life or for a fixed term.

You can buy an annuity with some, or all, of the pension fund you’ve built up, and make sure you’ve got a reliable income for the future. There are different types of pension annuity to consider and various factors will affect your income, including:

• Your age

• Your health

• Interest rates

• The type of annuity you choose

• Whether you take 25% of your fund as a tax free cash sum

• Whether you provide a continuing income for a partner/dependants

Whatever type you buy, it is designed to provide you with a pension income. And, you don’t have to buy it from your current pension provider – what you get from different providers will vary, so it’s important to shop around.

 

Retirement and Investment experts covering Staffordshire Shropshire Derbyshire and Cheshire.

If you need financial advice we may be able to help in planning your financial future, we have provided quality goal driven financial advice for many years and have many satisfied clients who trust us to take care of their financial plans for retirement and also investment planning needs. Our financial adviser Roderick Hopkins is Highly qualified and has over 30 Years experience in financial services and has earned an enviable reputation for providing sound financial advice.

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