In short, a pension plan is a tax-efficient investment plan specifically designed to help you save enough money to support you in retirement. A personal pension plan is one that belongs solely to you, where you have control over contribution amounts, investment risk and retirement age (over the age of 55)

It’s important that you take financial advice to work out if a personal pension plan is the right option for you.

No. Whilst it’s always a good idea to begin your retirement planning as early as possible, it’s never too late to make a start. Lot’s of people don’t get around to seriously thinking about their pension until their 30s and 40s so you mustn’t give up!

However, it’s important that you take advice so that you fully understand how much you should probably set aside and also the implications suitability of investment risk.

Definitely; although you should probably take financial advice make sure you have the type of scheme most suited to your needs and that you take full advantage of all the tax benefits associated with retirement planning.

There are many benefits to being self employed but one downside is that no one other than you is going to pay into your pension fund for you. It’s something to be taken seriously and we recommend taking financial advice as part of the normal practice of running a business.

No; and to be honest, the sooner you start saving for your retirement, the better it will be for you. Being honest, saving for retirement can be tough.

Many will never save enough money to carry on their chosen lifestyle in retirement, so starting young is a sensible idea.

You’ll be able to start with relatively small amounts which, due to the amount of time they’ll be invested, will make a huge difference in the long run.

Speak to a financial adviser about the benefits of starting young.

Many people think like this and some people genuinely never retire. However, life doesn’t always go according to plan.

Sometimes we’re forced to give work on grounds of ill health, sometimes the economy doesn’t support mass employment and, in reality, as we age the opportunities to earn “good money” diminish.

Even if you plan to never retire, it’s till s aged idea to invest in a pension: to ensure your long term financial security in the event of things not going to plan and to potentially supplement reduced earnings in old age.

Property is an asset class like any other. It experiences peaks and troughs and, depending on the market at any one time, can be a good or, indeed, a poor investment.

The most important thing to understand is that property is a relatively illiquid investment, meaning that you may not be able to access your capital in a timely fashion in old age if you need it.

Also, managing a rental property portfolio and the demands of tenants can be too much for some people in old, and when you consider the ever changing legal landscape for “landlords”, this needs to be taken into consideration.

Property can certainly be a profitable element of a balanced and diversified investment strategy but we believe it’s always a good idea to have a pension plan at the centre of your retirement strategy.

If this is something that you’re planning to do, we always recommend that you take both financial advice and advice from your solicitor and accountant.

If you’re employed, you should have a pension scheme available to you and we recommend that you join it if you haven’t done so already. Your HR department will tell you what you need to pay and what your company will contribute on your behalf (normally at least 3% gross salary).

If you’re self-employed and worried about what you can afford, you should speak to a financial adviser as minimum contribution requirements can vary.

In the current tax year (20/21), the maximum state pension you can receive is £175.20 a week (£9,110.40 a year). This is what eligible pensioners are receiving today. Sadly, the future cannot be predicted and forecasting what a 45 year old might receive when they reach state retirement age is impossible.

Ask yourself a simple question. Could you live the life you want to live on £175 per week? Would this cover your outgoings and pay all your bills (including food). Be honest.

If you don’t think it would, or you want to ensure a better standard of living in retirement, speak to a financial adviser.

Both have their value but it’s important that you understand your personal risk profile before making any investment decisions.

We recommend speaking to a financial adviser to plan what’s best for you.

You should definitely join the pension scheme offered by your employer.

If you’re concerned about what you might receive from this scheme in retirement, wish to diversify your retirement planning or simply discuss the additional options available to you, we recommend speaking to a financial adviser.

Certainly. we can take a look at what you have and discuss ways in which you can simplify and improve your retirement provision. Just give us a call.

There are, both at the time of investing and when you take your pension in retirement.

Speak to a financial adviser about how you can benefit form a tax position by investing in a pension scheme. pensions remain one of the most tax efficient ways of saving and investing but it’s important to understand how this relates to you.

There are lots of ways of saving and investing that allow both immediate and flexible ways to access your money and some could provide real value to you.

However, one of the key benefits of investing into a pension is that you can’t access your money until you reach retirement.

That way they ensure that your retirement savings are there for when you need them: in retirement.

If you’re interested in building a balanced savings portfolio, speak to a financial adviser.

It’s very common for individuals to have multiple pension pots. Usually, people have savings directly relating to periods of employment with different companies that they have worked for in the past. However, it’s also common for them to have private accounts too.

Consolidating pension pots will make things easier to manage by collecting your funds and placing them into one simple plan that is easy to monitor.

Specific benefits to each person will vary depending on their own pensions but these can include things like access to more and better investments, lower charges and so on.

Individuals generally do not benefit from having funds spread across multiple plans, given that defined contribution pensions are covered by the FSCS up to 100% of their value.

Therefore if the underlying provider was to fail people have the same amount of protection as they would if their money was distributed amongst multiple pots with different providers.

Yes. Reviewing your pension, regardless of how valuable it is to you as an individual, is always worth doing for multiple reasons.

It’s common for people to save into a pension for long periods of time without knowing where their monies are invested or how much they are paying providers for their services.

This often means individuals are perhaps not obtaining the best value for money comparative to if they took a more proactive approach to managing their pots.

This is also true when considering any investment plans people may have such as OEICs or Investment and/or Cash ISAs.

Yes. One benefit of using your pension as a business owner relates to employer pension contributions and the use of these in your own personal and business and tax planning.

Business owners may contribute monies directly into their pensions as an employer contribution, subject to annual allowances.

In the process of doing so the employer contribution is regarded as a business expense for tax purposes and is also not subject to any tax on a personal level or national insurance considerations either.

Yes. At this point in time, most pension monies will fall outside of your estate and can therefore usually be used as a valuable long term inheritance tax planning tool.

Always. A financial adviser will be able to help you identify areas of importance that will allow you to not just build a pension pot more efficiently, invest lump sum and/or save for the future, but also the most prudent retirement & investment strategy given your own individual financial picture and objectives.

Financial planning is also not just about investing for the future. Many other areas of consideration form part of the financial planning process.

Individuals and companies often do not realise the areas of concern, sometimes until it is too late to do so, therefore we urge people to get in touch with a professional to review their position as soon as possible