Retirement Planning In Depth

Planning your retirement is one of the most important financial objectives you may have.

Building up funds, so that you can enjoy your life after many years of hard work, clearly makes sense. You may be fortunate enough to be a member of a Final Salary Scheme, particularly if your career has been in the Public Sector or with a major employer, but increasingly, these types of pension scheme are disappearing and individuals rather than their employers are expected to take on all the investment risks themselves and build up an appropriate fund so that they can finance their own retirement, rather than rely on their ex-employer. But are these risks appropriate for you? Do you know what risks you are taking? Can you change those risks? Who is there to guide you through this maze?

Essentially, it is all about what your income needs will be when work stops and how much you can build up beforehand to provide for those needs. Obviously, the more you have the better your retirement should be, at least in monetary terms.

Saving for retirement is not all about pension contracts though. All of your savings and investments can and possibly should be considered for this vital purpose. Today, a typical personal pension fund is like any other investment fund you may have accumulated.  It is only the tax treatment and some restrictions and rules that make it marginally different from other forms of saving.

The new pension freedom rules came into place in April 2015. Many investors have begun to see the advantage of building up funds in pension contracts, having previously and maybe understandably lost confidence in them after mis-selling scandals, reports of excessive charges, poor investment returns and the obligation to buy an inflexible annuity contract at retirement. Things have definitely changed and generally for the better.

We look to simplify the process for you, to take away much of the technicalities and jargon, so that you can concentrate on the results. Nevertheless, if you wish to understand more about pension contracts and the jargon that surrounds them you can find out more here.

So whether you are a long way from retirement, it is rapidly approaching, or maybe you are already there, we can help with your retirement planning needs.

In the end, it usually boils down to the risks you are prepared, or not prepared to take and the investments you use. If an investment portfolio is appropriate for your pension needs, we can certainly design a suitable structure for you. Feel free to take a look at the features of our investment service.

The Annuity market has had to change significantly and now there are flexible options, higher income for certain health conditions, longer guaranteed periods and better death benefits than before. We can advise you on the options available to you.

Then there is the idea of Equity Release, now thankfully, regulated by the FCA. In many cases, Equity Release can be a useful source of retirement income or capital. We have qualified and authorised advisers who can help you in this area. We know that Equity Release is not for everyone, but with so much family wealth now tied up in our homes more of us are willing to consider using some of that wealth for our needs today.

Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Changes in the exchange rate will affect the sterling value of your investment. The value of investments (including property) and the income derived from them may go down as well as up. 

Equity release is a lifetime mortgage plan.  To understand the features and risks, ask for a personalised illustration.