Archive for the ‘Individual Pension Plans’ Category

Are You Looking After Your Individual Pension Plan?

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

There comes a point in life where many people start an individual pension plan, whether you are young or older, it is an important decision.

In fact, a lot of emphasis is placed on finding the right plan for you, and ensuring that you are investing appropriately, but then all is forgotten. This is sort of back to front, although choosing your first pension plan is very important, it could be said that maintaining it is even more important.

Individual Pension PlanMost of us are aware of our finances, at least to some degree, for example, we know what payments are going in and out of our bank account; we probably know what interest is on our savings; and we always ensure we are getting the best deals on our utilities.

However, when it comes to a pension fund, many people simply forget about their individual pension plan and let it look after itself.

Of course, it is quite possible to do this as it’s not going to go anywhere. However, by ignoring your pension and simply hoping it is working for you will not ensure you a stable retirement.

A lack of maintenance and care will mean that your individual pension plan could be eating away your fund in management fees and charges, it could be inappropriately invested, and may not be worth the paper it is written on.

There is a way to take care of your fund and individual pension plan, in a process known as a pension review.

This is something which should ideally be carried out on a regular basis, perhaps annually, to ensure that you are always fully aware of any issues surrounding your pension.

A pension review consists of an independent financial adviser assessing your current individual pension plan, your other finances, your personal circumstances, the economy, and your attitudes towards investment risk.

All this information is then brought together in a report which could contain some recommendations to improve the performance of your pension fund.

?If you are hoping for a good quality of life during your retirement, it is absolutely essential that you maintain your individual pension plan so that there are no bumpy roads along the way.  All the factors listed above can have a significant impact on your pension fund, and your individual pension plan.

Without allowing an independent financial adviser to investigate, and assess your pension, it is impossible to understand whether your finances are in order.

individual pension plan There is nothing worse than having assumed that your pension is doing what you expected it to do 30 years ago, and considering retiring from employment to find out that you can’t afford to do so.

Having a regular pension review means that you will always know of any ups and downs associated with your individual pension plan, and be able to take the necessary changes sooner rather than later.

Pensionlite can help.Our Free, Independent, No Obligation Pension Reviews are designed to put you in a position of knowledge before you make any decisions.It will not cost you a single 1p to accept a pension review & recommendation report tailored to you, your circumstances and aspirations.

What have you got to lose?

Pensionlite carries the prestigious status of Chartered Financial Planners.

Our Chartered status, granted by the Privy Council, is our industries gold standard for financial planners and is currently held by less than 300 firms across the country.

This status brings with it serious obligations to ensure the advice, service and ongoing support we provide for you is of the highest quality, based solely on your researched needs and provided by someone of appropriate competency.

We offer whole of market choice and have no links or ties to any single business or organisation.

Our aim is to provide our clients with tailored solutions, created by advisers with particular skills and specialist qualifications.

individual pension plan Our advice process is always to gather a full understand our clients needs, circumstances and aspirations together with detailed analysis of any existing arrangements and make written recommendations before any decisions or actions are taken.

We provide free, independent, no obligation review and recommendation reports covering all aspects of our specialist areas of work. Knowledge is power and unless you know, how can you decide on a course of action.

For more information about individual pension plan contact us telephone 01952 279 379, e mail enquiries@pensionlite.co.uk.

 

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Considerations to make when looking for an individual pension plan

Friday, December 17th, 2010

Retirement is a time to realise all those life goals prohibited by time restrictions during your working life. Who has the time when the constraints of a career mean work is a priority over play?  In retirement priorities can change, with people wishing to have the financial security to take advantage of their new freedom, which can be delivered by a sound individual pension plan.

The standard of your retirement life will be significantly impacted upon by the individual pension plan that you choose, so it is extremely important to sit down with an independent specialist pensions adviser who can give expert advice on which pension options will best support your retirement dreams.

looking for an individual pension plan

Naturally, prior to seeking specialist advice on which individual pension plan to purchase, it is a good idea to give careful consideration to what you wish to do when you finally come to retirement age, how you can make your equity best work for you, and what kind of contributions you will comfortably be able to make throughout your working life.

It can seem strange to be considering what the conditions of your life will be like so far into the future, as retirement appears aeons away to many people, but it is truly never too early to start formulating a financial strategy for your retirement. An individual pension plan is obviously a central and integral part of this, as a state pension cannot be relied upon to provide financial stability in old age.

The average annual sum provided by the state pension during retirement totals £4,953, which is a rather insignificant sum and obviously impossible to survive on alone. The thought of trying to exist on less than £5000 a year should strengthen people’s resolve to start an individual pension plan early and rightly so, as retirement should be a time without stress or financial concerns. However, the responsibility lies with each individual to save their own pension nest egg.

The financial market contains a wide variety of individual pension plans to consider. Invest time and effort into establishing a clear picture of what you want in later life before comparing individual pension plans, then organise a meeting with a specialist adviser.

Look over the three main basic types of individual pension plan and ask your adviser, who will have thoroughly taken your financial circumstances and future plans into account, whether a stakeholder, personal or insured personal pension plan is right for you.

Everyone has their own particular retirement plan and special set of priorities, so it is vital you are as upfront and open as possible with the specialist pensions adviser about what it is you wish to gain from your individual pension plan.

Naturally, you will learn a great deal from the insight of the adviser, who will undoubtedly give you much to ponder before you make a decision and purchase a pension. Individual pension plans are complex and many people come to change their mind about which pension is most suitable for them after having a clear explanation of their features and benefits given to them by an expert.

Securing the right individual pension plan should be at the top of everyone’s list of priorities, so start your research today before making an appointment to review your pension arrangements with a specialist pensions adviser.

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Arranging and reviewing your individual pension plan

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

These days, one can generally be more creative and eclectic when it comes to building an income for one’s retirement. As well as your state pension, you might be with a company pension scheme run by your employer, and/or may be considering other strategies altogether, such as investing in property or other assets.

However, for many people, an individual pension plan (also known as a personal pension plan/scheme) will be the preferred choice. This is a way of building, through investment, an income for retirement, and usually enjoys tax privileged status.

Individual pension plans split into two broad categories. One is the ‘insured personal pension’, which is where you choose from a set selection of investment options for your fund, and the scheme is managed by a life insurance company.

Pension Lite - Pension Plan Advice

While this may sound like it limits your options, often the fund investment possibilities are quite extensive. Also the Financial Services Authority (FSA) authorizes the fund managers.

The other type is the ‘self-invested personal pensions’ (SIPP), whereby you yourself make the investment decisions for your fund. If, conversely, this sounds risky, the investment options open to you are all still approved by HM Revenue & Customs.

If you want to take a hands-on approach to investing your pension fund, the SIPP route would probably be of interest to you.

One drawback is that some of the things that SIPP holders may want to invest in might not yield the same tax relief that is usually afforded to pension investments. With SIPPs, it’s a case of deciding whether you have the time, understanding and inclination to manage your own retirement fund and investment.

If you feel that you do, it can be a very appealing and liberating option.

However, you need to be sure that a couple of years in the future you won’t find yourself wishing that you’d taken a lower-responsibility and time-commitment option.

A fairly recent development that has made reviewing your individual pension plan more imperative than ever is the ‘stakeholder’ pension, which features a cap on fees, meaning that many of the older plans are looking rather expensive in comparison.

It could be that a stakeholder pension would suit you far more, and you may be able to transfer to a cheaper plan, even with the same provider. Similarly, if you have a ‘with profit’ personal pension, this should be reviewed as soon as possible, as these have proved to be a risky option.

Although, in theory, ‘with profits’ plans have the advantage of directly benefitting from successful investment, they can, of course, go the other way. At the best of times this means that your income can fluctuate significantly (and most people like to know where they’re at with their income), but in the current financial climate it has meant that many have lost out quite significantly.

To discuss your individual pension plan, and whether it would be worthwhile transferring or re-arranging, get in touch for a free, independent (i.e. impartial) and no obligation review from one of our advisers.

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Individual Pension Plans

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

Planning for your retirement is extremely important. How will you cope financially? National insurance contributions through our working years entitle us to a state pension. This is only in the region of £4,953 each year depending on the number of years contributions. For most people this is not sufficient; this is why many opt for an individual pension plan to save our hard earned cash to make retirement comfortable.

Taking an individual pension means you are contributing to your pension yourself and not relying on a employer. This is then broken down into three types of personal plan, stakeholder, and insured personal or self invested pension.

Tax relief is the largest benefit of pension schemes, every £1000 contribution will only really cost you £800, the ‘taxman’ chips in the rest and higher rate tax payers can claim back an extra 20%, subject to limits.  This makes paying into a pension seem very worthwhile but do not rush your decisions regarding which pension scheme is best suited to you.

There are over 1000 different options regarding insured personal pension scheme, stakeholder is similar but with low charges and flexibility regarding starting and stopping your contributions as the circumstances in your life change. Stakeholder pensions were introduced by the government to encourage people to save for retirement.  With self invested schemes you the pension holder have more control, therefore more decisions so this means more risks.

Individual pension plans let you pay into your fund whether you are working or not, this maybe the right choice for people who move jobs regularly. They offer you flexibility; you can choose how much you want to contribute and when. It is also your choice, once you are over age 55, when you want to retire without worrying what penalties you will face. The option to phase out work gradually rather than just taking sudden retirement may be attractive as you may worry as to how you will cope with a quick drop in your income.

There are many other specialised types of pension plans available offering a tax efficient way of saving and a wide range of fund options to match risk levels that you as an individual are prepared to take, but you need to understand fully the risks and charges that may be involved with each plan.

With all investments professional advice is the key to source the most suitable options for you.

Pensionlite is an independent financial advisor firm. We are specialist pension and investment advisers providing FREE, No Obligation Review and Recommendation Reports. Our reviews are carried out by specially qualified pension advisers. We obtain all relevant information to provide you with recommendations to suit your needs.

If you need help in understanding your choices regarding your pension plans, we can help.

Our pension reviews are completely free, we have no hidden costs and are completely transparent in all our dealings. If you would like free expert advice call now on 01952 279 379 or email us at  enquiries@pensionlite.co.uk

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