The need to accrue sufficient resources for your retirement is growing - people are living longer and healthier lives, and, whilst the government offer a basic level of financial support for pensioners, it is unlikely to keep you in the lifestyle to which you may have become accustomed.

Pensions remain one of the most tax efficient ways of saving for retirement and our financial planners are experts in providing pensions advice and guiding you through the veritable maze that pensions investing has become, despite the government’s attempt at “pension simplification”.

It’s never too early to start thinking about your retirement provision and if you’ve already accumulated significant pension funds you should regularly review them to ensure they are on course to provide you with your desired level of income in retirement. Once you reach retirement, you are then faced with some very important decisions on how best to access your pension benefits.

So, contact us today to discuss your pension provisions.

We will talk to you in detail about your specific circumstances and will discuss the most appropriate course of action with you.

Your employer may well offer some type of pension scheme and advice is often required on the decisions needed regarding these types of pensions.

If your employer does not offer a pension scheme or you are self-employed, you will need to consider the three main types of individual pensions currently available.

• Stakeholder Pensions
• Personal Pensions
• Self-Invested Personal Pensions

Stakeholder Pensions

Stakeholder pensions are money-purchase schemes that must have the following features:

• Limited charges (there’s a maximum charge of 1.5% of the value of your fund each year which reduces to 1% after ten years.)
• Low minimum payments (you must be allowed to pay in as little as £20)
• Flexible contributions (you should be able to make contributions when you want and of the size you want)
• Penalty-free transfers in case you want to move stakeholder pension to another provider
• Straightforward investment choice – you may be able to choose from a limited range of investment funds.

Personal Pensions

Personal pensions are also money-purchase schemes. They don’t have the same imposed features as a stakeholder pension, but usually have a wider choice of investment options and carry slightly higher costs than stakeholder pensions.

Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs)

If you have a large pension fund and are an experienced investor, a SIPP may well be the most appropriate pension vehicle for you. SIPPs provide a great degree of investment flexibility and are the pension vehicle of choice for many investment industry insiders.