Pensions & Pension Transfers - Midlands - UK - Clover Financial

The good news is – we are all living longer and well beyond the age of retirement! The not so good news is that in the future it is unlikely that the State will be able to fully support a far higher proportion of the population as pensioners.

As well as being less able to rely on the State pension, fewer of us remain with the same employer throughout our work lives, so fewer of us can assume that everything will be taken care of by a company pension scheme. And as well as living longer and living more active lives far into retirement, most of us also want to retire earlier.

It is therefore absolutely essential that everybody now looks to plan properly for their pension – as making the right Pension choices now could be the difference between spending your retirement free from financial worries – or still having to work for a living into your 70’s.

There are many types of Pensions available and a pension is one of the most tax efficient ways of saving. Why not arrange for one of our Experienced Financial Planners to come and talk to you about your options in starting a Pension now?

Pension Transfers – Deferred or Frozen Pensions

Do you have an existing pension that you no longer make payments into – this is known as a deferred or frozen pension? Typically, it might be a previous Employers Company Pension Scheme that you belonged to, but stopped paying into when you left. There are many of these types of pensions in existence and people tend to forget about them and don’t realise that it is worth having them reviewed to see what they are worth to see if they are performing to the best of their ability to give you the maximum pension benefits when you retire.

 Pension simplification has arrived. Known as A-Day, 6 April 2006 marked the roll out of new rules and a new tax regime. These have all been introduced to make pensions simpler and encourage you to save more towards your retirement. These changes could impact on your plans to start taking benefits and there may be new opportunities you can take advantage of. Such opportunities include:

• Better tax breaks allowing you to save more; introduction of the annual allowance
• Greater flexibility - in terms of investment choices and the number of pension plans you can invest in and greater flexibility when you come to take your benefits

We can help you to assess how these new rules affect you and to consider whether:

• Your Existing arrangements are in the right place
• Your existing arrangements will maximise your tax-free cash entitlement
• You are investing in the right funds for your risk profile
• Your projected fund will be above the standard lifetime allowance
• The benefits provided by your projected fund meet your expectations of income levels when you come to take your benefits
• Your current arrangements allow you flexibility in how you take your benefits

It’s important to act now to make sure you make the most of what’s on offer. It costs you nothing to allow us to get the information to see if your pension is in the right place to maximise its value. All we need is your permission to write to your current provider to evaluate your pension and to let you know whether it should remain where it is - or whether you might benefit from moving it to your existing pension plan or a new pension plan if this is appropriate.

If you are not sure that you remember where you might possibly have a deferred or frozen pension or you think the name of the pension provider might have changed – there is a web site that you can use that will identify the provider for you and e-mail back the results. It is: -

www.thepensionservice.gov.uk

Our Financial Planning Advisors can give you all the information you need to make an informed choice. There is no cost for this service and no obligation to take the advice offered. What have you got to lose? Why not contact us now to arrange for someone to talk to you about your options.