Pension Transfer Specialist Adviser

September 7th, 2010

Pension transfer was something I had no knowledge about. I take my finances very seriously, but pension plans and schemes are extremely complex, particularly for the layperson not working in financial services, so without the required specialist knowledge a person will rarely question whether they are getting the most out of their personal plan, or that a significantly better plan might be available to them.

This is a mistake and quite honestly I feel it is a person’s right to know if their pension scheme isn’t making their hard earned money work for them. After a long working life a person wants to rest assured everything they put away is creating the safest, secure and stress free life for them as they enter retirement.

Old age should bring a period of rest, comfort and calm, so the pension you pay into is vitally important, something you genuinely rely on for your financial peace of mind when you finally decide to retire.
I decided to consult a specialist adviser, not particularly with a pension transfer in mind, but with the simple goal of finding out whether the pension scheme I had entered into truly was the best for me, as I had read an article in the paper arguing the need for people to ensure they had the correct scheme.

Dire times arising from the recession had no sign of being resolved, the change of government hardly bolstering confidence in the country’s ability to resolve the terrible situation.
The specialist adviser went through all my personal details and my pension plan with me thoroughly, breaking down the pension structure and analysing exactly how my money was working for me, identifying possible areas for improvement.

The specialist adviser listened attentively to my concerns, weighed up my circumstances and looked over my investments, getting the clearest possible picture of my financial position.
Taking these details and the identified areas of my pension which represented possible targets for improvement, the specialist adviser used their database and formidable knowledge of the current pensions market, comparing my plan against alternative schemes and gauging whether a pension transfer was a potential, sensible and beneficial option.

A pension transfer is a huge step and change to make, but the specialist adviser understood that, settling my nerves, making it clear they were looking for ways to improve my situation, with no upfront cost or obligation to go forward with a pension transfer.
Eventually, we pinpointed a particular provider whose pension plan would be a significant improvement over the scheme I currently had in place.

The results of the review gave me a lot to consider, but I elected for a pension transfer after careful consideration, certain that the pension transfer represented a wise and positive action toward securing a completely stress free retirement, which like many people I feel entitled to after a lifetime of working hard and providing for my family. It was time to provide for me.
Pension transfer is not for everyone, but a specialist adviser will help you decide whether it will benefit your particular situation without obligation or cost. It was certainly right for me and has delivered genuine peace of mind, which is priceless in old age.

Tags: adviser, lite, pension, specialist, transfer
Posted in Pension Transfer

Do you need an investment review?

September 6th, 2010

Investment review – have you ever considered one? Have you even heard of one? If not, take this scenario: you have invested all of your savings, and suddenly you hit a financial worry – are you even aware if your funds are accessible? If you have never considered any of this, perhaps now is the time to take up a professional investment review to ensure that you are reaching the capital growth you require.

Investments are tricky business and expert help is often the way to go as they will be able to tell you if your savings are managed correctly, whether you have access to your funds, if you investment is tax efficient, and most importantly if you are reaching the desired capital growth.

Paradoxically, uncertainty in life is predictable, the same goes with the economy and market and your investment. A regular investment review can really reduce the uncertainty surrounding your investment. These reviews are usually carried out over a 3-5 year period to allow a long term view of the fluctuations in your investment. The investment review will provide you with the opportunity to check how much your investment portfolio is meeting its objectives set at the beginning, and how it is meeting aims that are relevant at the time of review.

There are many no obligation quotations available for your investment review, and it will be time well spent. However, once you have entered into a relationship with your adviser you may start to question the frequency of the investment reviews once you start paying for the service. Trust me, this will be money well spent.

Your personal circumstances will change over time, whether that is marriage, children, divorce, new employment, a new house, or the death of a relative, these will all impact greatly on your life, and you will require a review of your financial plans in line with changes to your needs.

As previously mentioned, these developments will affect your investment, but also your attitude towards investment risk may also drastically change, and therefore your plan will need to be updated through an investment review.

Alongside any changes in your personal life and your attitude towards investment risk, factors outside your control will also impact on previous decision.

The economic environment and investment markets will develop and change over time, these all need to be considered and discussed at an investment review meeting.

When should these meetings take place? This is dependent on the complexity of your needs and the size of your investment, but an advisory frequency is an annual investment review.

It is up to the adviser to make sure that the discussions are interesting and relevant to the current climate. It is your responsibility to ensure that the adviser is aware of any important events that have occurred since that last review and discuss all avenues to ensure they are aware of any information which could impact on your financial planning for the future.

Your financial future should be at low risk, you should be aware of any decisions which will impact on your investment and financial plans, and you should ensure that you keep a professional but friendly relationship with your investment adviser to keep your investment reviews interesting and less of a chore.

Tags: financial, invester lite, investment review, pension
Posted in Investments

Why do I need a Retirement Review?

September 5th, 2010

Are you getting closer to retirement but have concerns about whether or not you can afford it? It’s a common problem across the UK.

People have multiple pensions, perhaps individual pension plans, company pension schemes and other, but most do not know what they are invested in, or how much they are worth.

A retirement review service is designed for those people who are some way from retirement and are unsure of whether they will income to enjoy retirement and live rather than just surviving.

In your first meeting, you should expect to discuss the financial side of the retirement reviews, for example the costs of each review, whether this payment can be taken from the investment, and whether it will be a fixed fee per review or an open-ended hourly rate.

Your adviser should start by finding out what retirement will mean to you, what you wish to do during your retirement days and then obtain all the information needed so they know what they can expect from their current plans.

You should then be presented with a plan which demonstrates how much your pension is worth now, and how much you should expect to receive upon retirement. Only once you have received this plan can you decide on how to plan for your future retirement.

The plan should also map out clearly what needs to be done in order to achieve your ideal retirement, this will often include how much longer you need to continue in employment and if you would have the ability to drop working hours.

Your retirement adviser should be able to advise you on saving, making your pensions easier to manage and get your investment to work harder.

It is important to ensure that your pension and retirement plans are checked and reviewed regularly to ensure that the plans are still in line with your current situation. The current economic climate, and constantly fluctuating global circumstances should make your retirement review a number one priority.

Alongside external events, your personal circumstances will impact upon your retirement plans. Are you reaching ever closer to the retirement age? Have you changed jobs frequently throughout your working life? Do you hold multiple pensions? All these factors and many will mean that you should have a retirement review and then arrange further appointments for a regular review until you are financially able to take the plunge.

During your retirement review you should discuss whether the performance of your pension is appropriate to your objectives, establish whether your portfolio takes into account your attitudes on risk of investment.

You adviser should carry out a risk profile questionnaire which will ask a variety of questions to ascertain your attitudes and how they will impact on your current situation. Once the questionnaire is complete, this is will provide important information about your attitudes to risk which will enable to provider to select a suitable retirement portfolio.

For example, if you have an investment which is ideal for a cautious investor but your risk profile confirms that you are a more adventurous investor, you may wish to revise your retirement portfolio.

Tags: investorlite, pension, pension plans, pensionlite, retirement review, retiring now options
Posted in Retirement Review

Everyone deserves to receive good Pension Plan Advice

September 4th, 2010

What if I die before I retire? What if I divorce? What if I change jobs? These are all questions you should ask before taking out a pension plan.

Do you really understand your pension plan or are you handing over your hard earned cash each month and just hoping for the best? It’s always worth seeking pension plan advice before you signed up to anything.

If you’re looking for pension plan advice, whether you’re looking at taking out your first pension plan or you simply want advice on your current or previous plan then making the right decision is not always easy.

We all make the wrong choices in life sometimes, but making the wrong choice when it comes to your pension plan can have a massive impact on your quality of life in your retirement.

Did you know that if you live to the age of 60 you have a 50% chance of living to the age of 92? That’s potentially over 30 years living in retirement.

That’s a long time to just ‘make do’. Planning wisely for retirement will let you continue to enjoy your current lifestyle.

People in general tend to ignore their pension plan. They will keep an eye on their utility bills, mobile phone contract, savings accounts and other such things to ensure they’re getting the best from them, but end up forgetting about their pension plan.

This is something you have to keep on top of. You really need to take the time and sit down once a year to review your pension plan. Make sure your money is working hard for you.

Getting expert advice is vital to ensure you’re making the most of your pension plan. Going to an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) will ensure you have the most up to date information and that the advice you receive is impartial and suited to you and your circumstances.

One of the most important aspects of financial planning is planning for your retirement, absorbing future living costs. The UK is one of the worst countries in Europe for financial planning and the elderly in the UK are among the poorest. This has got to change.

Did you know pensions are one of the best methods of saving, with the government paying up to 40% of your contributions if you pay tax at the higher rate and 20% if you pay tax at the lower rate. Use these tax incentives.

A pension plan is something a lot of people tend to put off for the future, something they feel is not relevant at the moment. But it’s something you’ll definitely be glad you did. Reviewing the plan then helps keep you keep up to date with the current market.

At Pensionlite we offer expert pension plan advice. We offer a free no obligation pension review service to get you on the right path and we pride ourselves on always getting you the most suitable plan for your circumstances.

Tags: advice, adviser, investorlite, pensionlite, pensions
Posted in Pension Plan Advice

Pension Release Advice

September 3rd, 2010

When told by a friend of the possibility of obtaining a tax free cash sum through pension release I was dubious. I had never heard of pension release, let alone considered it, so naturally I pressed my friend for more information and found out that they had in fact reorganised their pension plan to obtain some welcome money.

This made perfect sense to me and started me thinking about how my situation could be bettered with a tax free cash payment from a pension release. The recession had hit my business hard and, like many others, I was experiencing difficult times.

Years back now, I put a great deal of time and effort into finding the right pension for me. Everybody has concerns regarding how they can ensure they enjoy financial security during their twilight years.

A good pension plan can do just that so I knew I had to find the unique scheme that would cover all my needs and provide a happy nest egg in old age.

Eager that I should do some thorough research, I read through brochures and looked on the internet, eventually visiting a number of high street branches, asking the advice of pension specialists, who were quick to analyse my personal details and circumstances and identify appropriate plans for me.

I weighed up my options and made my decision using all the information I had gathered.

I was pleased with my pension plan, but upon hearing my friend’s pension release story, I made up my mind to visit a specialist to obtain a full scheme review and see if I could benefit from a pension release, as unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances had made the potential payment a life changing prospect.

When the time came I was nervous, but the adviser calmed me, making it clear that I had no obligation to take the advice and proceed if I felt pension release wasn’t for me after all. We had to go into my personal details, including my pension scheme, very thoroughly, which made me a little uncomfortable but frankly highlighted just how much help a pension release could be.

I met the basic criteria, I was 57 at the time, you must be over 55, and my plan did in fact let me release some of my benefits early. For me, the decision was simple and my personal circumstance had made up my mind: I took the pension release.

I am certain I made the right decision. The cash really did help me through a particularly bad time. I didn’t have to transfer my pension and I actually continue to contribute to the pension plan, which effectively means I am storing up another potential source of income should further hard times arise and another pension release is necessary.

It is a big decision and not suitable for everyone, people must be aware that a pension release will reduce their final pension amount, but it was the right choice for me and genuinely helped me through a desperately difficult financial period.

Tags: advice, pension, pensions, release, specialist, transfer
Posted in Pension Release Comments Off