As the new tax year approaches, now is a perfect time to think about making your finances work for you, especially when it comes to planning your retirement. The concept of the financial year isn’t just limited to accountants or financial advisers. It affects us all, as savings such as ISAs and personal pensions have limits on how much you can invest per year. Other deadlines also depend on this calendar – which is why this is the busiest time of year, as many tax breaks cannot be carried forward to future years.
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Auto-enrolment has been in place for some years now. With so many people not saving enough in their private pension funds, the auto-enrolment initiative was introduced to encourage people to save for their retirement and not rely on a state pension. From April this year, there will be an extra increase in automatic pension contributions: a minimum of 5% will be taken from people’s salary if you are over 22 years old and earn over £10,000 per annum.
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Many people are keeping a much closer eye on their pension fund performance in order to assist with retirement planning. These days, there is much more choice between pension providers, such as different investment funds and ways to withdraw your savings. However, you could still be losing money. All pension providers charge for their services, and the last thing you want is for your careful retirement planning to be spoilt by hidden pension fees.
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The workplace pension is something that many people take for granted. You contribute towards it whenever you are paid, your employer might add their own contributions, and you will also be paying into your state pension. You might even have an additional private pension fund you are paying into. However, this is no guarantee that your pension is growing as you expected it to, especially if you have lost track.
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Many people choose to transfer their pensions to a new provider if they are looking for pension consolidation, want more investment choice, or if their current pension fund is not offering the best value for money. Combining all your private pensions into a single pension fund could have several advantages, including being easier to manage and keep track. Modern pensions may also give you more choice of investments, which is potentially useful if you want more control (although remember that investment value can go down as well as up).
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The problem:
Auto-enrolment – when a workplace automatically enrols you in a private pension and it is up to you to opt out if desired – is useful in many ways. For younger workers or those who might have put off setting up a pension fund, it gets people off to a good start when saving for their retirement. However, if you are already paying into a personal pension, this can make retirement planning more complicated.
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A pension assessment may not be something you have considered. Perhaps it sounds like it’s only for people who have large personal pension pots, or even those who are having problems with their private pension. However, a pension review is suitable for everyone, no matter how close you are to retirement. It is designed to benefit you, and the financial advice you are given will not only make sure you are getting the right deal but could save you money.
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Many people have a few different pension pots from previous employers, and you may have heard of pension consolidation: putting all your pension plans together in one, single pension fund. For your retirement planning, it’s essential to have an idea of how much income you could expect to receive from your final pension.
Consolidation for easy management
Pension consolidation could make this much easier: no-one wants to spend hours trawling through filing cabinets or peering at different websites trying to work out what all your pension funds add up to. It can also reduce the chances of losing track of any old workplace pension pots you may forget about as they are lower in value. When it comes to your retirement fund, every penny counts.
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Many people consider transferring their pension funds, from consolidating their old workplace pensions to moving out of a final salary scheme into a personal pension. If you have considered transferring your pension pot to another scheme or provider, here are six reasons why it could be beneficial.
1. Looking for better performance
Some people opt to move their pension because they are in an under performing scheme delivering poor – or non-existent – growth. If your private pension is performing poorly, you may well want to move your pension funds elsewhere.
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As parents and grandparents, we all hope the values and knowledge we hold dear can somehow be passed on to our children and grandchildren. We’d all like to be able to offer advice to them helping them make the right financial decisions for their future, including saving enough in their private pension. Here are a few thoughts that might just help.
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