Retirement planning advice

Retirement planning takes time – but it need not be a life sentence.

There are many stages in your life where your ability to prepare for your retirement will change.  At each stage it is essential you receive independent pension advice. Expert independent pension advice can make a huge difference to your retirement plans.

Are you approaching retirement?

Your retirement is a life changing event. Most people only get one shot at retiring. You need to get it right first time and you can’t really afford to get anything other than the best from your pension.

Retirement options have changed immensely over the last few years. There are now many avenues you can explore including phasing in your retirement over several years.  Terminologies such as annuity, enhanced annuity, open market option, capped-drawdown, flexible-drawdown, and phased-drawdown may sound intimidating at first, but we’ll explain all of these and many more in plain English, allowing you to understand all of your options.  The sooner you start preparing for your retirement – the more time you’ll have to choose the option that is best for you.

Contact us today – to find out all the ways our expert independent pension advice can help you make the most of your future.

Do you have an old pension that you haven’t reviewed recently?

Reviewing your pension is essential to ensure you are getting the most out it. Even if you are not contributing to your pension at present – the benefits of reviewing what you have can be immense. There have been massive changes to pensions over the years and chances are your circumstances will have changed as well. It is imperative that you ensure your pension is still working hard for you and its value is not getting eroded by charges from your pension provider.

Contact us today for expert independent pension advice that takes into account all of your circumstances.

Have you still to start saving for your retirement?

Becoming a pensioner may seem like a faraway event that will only happen to someone else. However it’s best to start as early as you can and save hard. The sooner you start to save the better prepared you will be.

A huge advantage to pensions is that when you pay money into your personal pension the government will top up your contribution. The more you put in the more the government puts in for you.

Contact us today for expert independent pension advice that takes into account all of your circumstances.

What happens if you don’t currently pay tax?

If you don’t pay tax you can still pay into a personal pension and benefit from basic rate tax relief (currently 20%) on the first £2,880 a year you put in. In practice this means that if you pay £2,880 the government will top up your contribution to make it £3,600. There is no tax relief for contributions above this amount – for non-taxpayers.

Contact us today for expert independent pension advice that takes into account all of your circumstances.

An end to contracting out

From 6 April 2012 the Government removed the option to contract out of the State Second Pension (S2P, formally known as SERPS). This change affected everyone who was contracted out into non-final salary pensions (commonly known as money purchase pensions). Over the years many people elected to contract out. If you are employed and have a personal pension there is a good chance you may also have been contracted out of the S2P at some point.

What is the effect of this change?

• Anyone contracted out of the S2P into a money purchase pension on 6 April 2012 was automatically contracted back in.
• The limitations on how money in your pension pot which came from being contracted out of the S2P were relaxed.

What does this mean in practical terms?

The amount of money being paid into your pension decreased, if you were contracted out, unless you took some action.

These changes are serious and to ensure your pension is still adequate for your needs it is imperative you review your pension planning.

Contact us to find out how our expert independent pension advice can help you through these changes.

A pension is a long term investment. The fund value can fluctuate and go down.  All information is based on Farrell Financial Planning’s understanding of UK law & HMRC practice in the UK. Tax and legislation are subject to change.