Archive for the ‘Pension Providers’ Category

Tips on Choosing the correct Pension Providers

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

Depending on your current Pension to take care of your financial needs post retirement is no longer a practical idea as most experts have been advising for quite a while now.

pension providers

Tips on Choosing the right Pension Providers!

The government itself has been indicating that individuals need to start taking charge of their retirement savings much earlier and with much more seriousness than ever before. It is clear that without your own personal post retirement pension fund, you cannot be sure of being able to sustain a comfortable lifestyle in your golden years.

Choosing a pension plan with reliable and experienced pension providers is the only way to ensure that your hard earned money grows at a good pace so that you have enough to stay financially independent in the future.

It also ensures that your money is invested in safe avenues. Here are some tips that will help you find an effective and reliable pension provider to entrust your money with.

Transparency in Dealings

There are scores of pension providers in the U.K and it is not an easy task to find one who can offer the most value to you. But it is relatively easy to determine the provider’s transparency during your discussions with him.

A provider who is willing and able to present his investment strategies to you in terms that you can understand easily should be your choice when you are choosing a pension provider. When you talk to different pension providers, you will see that some are willing to discuss all aspects of the plan with you freely.

Such providers are likely to give you a clear and realistic picture of what you can expect from them and how you can expect your funds to grow. Once you enter into an agreement with them, you are likely to get the benefits of transparency in all the dealings so that you know exactly what is happening with your fund at all times.

This is the kind of provider who will prove ideal for your pension fund.

Experience Counts

Given that the provider will be investing your money in various avenues, their experience and skill with investing is really important. Choose pension providers who have been in the business for a good many years and have built a strong reputation for themselves.

Providers who have steered their clients through many years of economic ups and downs have the experience to spot potential problems in time so that your funds are insulated to the maximum possible.

Pressure Tactics

With so many pension providers in the market, there is a lot of competition. However keen a provider is to manage your pension fund for you, they should be willing to give you sufficient time to go through the offerings and make up your mind.

Your pension fund is a critical part of your finances and a hasty decision resulting in entrusting your money to an unreliable provider could prove disastrous. A provider who uses pressure tactics to force you into a quick decision is not one who has your best interests at heart.

Always choose pension providers who are willing to discuss matters with you as many times as required and let you make your final decision at your own pace.

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An Overview of Different Types of

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011

An Overview of Different Types of Pensions

It is a well known fact that a pension provides income after an individual retires from his regular employment. Clearly, the bigger the amount you save in your pension fund, the more financial security you have post retirement. But not all pension types are suitable for all individuals.

pension providers with pensionlite

Finding the right pension providers

Also, some of these plans may be open only to those who fulfil certain criteria. For example, a company pension plan will be open only to the employees of that firm. There are many other aspects to consider about pension plans.

To understand whether you qualify for a specific pension type and how exactly it will help you, it is thus important to first understand the different kinds of pension plans.

UK Pension Providers

The UK Pension for an individual is just over £5,300 per year. This amount falls far short of what most people will need in retirement to live on and maintain the quality of life they are accustomed to.

The government’s recent stand on pension policy has made it clear that  individuals will have to take the responsibility of ensuring that they have enough set aside during their working lives to pave the way for a financially secure retirement.

People are being advised to start saving earlier in life so that they can accumulate enough funds by retirement age to supplement the inadequate state pension. One important point to remember is that the amount of state pension you are eligible for depends on the amount of National Insurance contributions you have made.

It is evident that unless you take some steps to save for your future, your retired life is bound to be financially strained. This is why it is important to participate in other pension programs offered by independent pension providers or your employer.

Personal Pension

In 1988, the government introduced the concept of personal pensions for those who could not avail of a company scheme. These are highly flexible options and also offer attractive tax benefits.

These may be of different types: such as SIPPs or stakeholder pensions. SIPP pensions or self invested personal pension plans offer the greatest possible flexibility. For these plans, you sign up with pension providers who undertake to invest your funds and manage them.

By choosing pension providers with experience and expertise, you can ensure that your money grows to the maximum possible with the least risk. You can choose from a wide range of investment options in line with your risk appetite under these plans. Stakeholder pensions operate on the same lines but may come with stricter stipulations and some additional charges.

Occupational Pensions

These are pensions set up by employers for the benefit of their employees. Both public and private sector employees may avail these pensions.

A public sector scheme typically involves the accrual of a portion of the final annual salary over a maximum of 40 years of service. In addition to this, a tax free lump sum amount may also be added to the pension fund. Private sector enterprises usually offer defined benefit schemes or defined contribution schemes.

Before you make a final decision about a particular pension plan, it is important to read through all the relevant documentation and understand it thoroughly.

In addition, keeping track of your pension fund’s growth over the years ensures that you always have a realistic picture of what you can hope to receive post retirement.

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Are You Losing Money With Your Pension Provider?

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

According to an investigation by BBC Panorama in 2010, 80% of money being paid into some pension plans is lost as a result of fees and commission.

pension provider

Are you losing money with your pension provider

Over 40 years, an estimated £120, 000 paid into some pension plans could result in fees and commissions totalling £99, 900.

Not every pension provider will incur extensive fees and commission; it’s likely that some outdated plans using the “old” pension structure could leave you paying out more than you should.

Most companies may argue that their pension product is competitive and realistic. However, it’s important to realise that there are a lot of options out there. Your current pension provider may not be right for your future retirement plans or current circumstances.

You should consider seeking financial help from a FSA regulated pension specialist to ensure your plan is benefiting you, and it’s the most suitable pension product around.

Old Structure Pension Plans

Before the introduction of stakeholder pension plans in 2001, many personal pensions used an “old structure”, which is very expensive.

Stakeholder pensions were introduced primarily to force down the cost of pensions schemes.

There are now a wide range of pension options that apply the Stakeholder type charging structure and are more competitive than the ‘old style’ pre Stakeholder plans.

If you’re concerned about your current pension plan, or curious about switching your pension plan, you should seek professional help from a pension advisor.

Who Can Help?

You should always seek financial advice before making decisions from expert pension specialists.

Pensionlite can review and assess your current pension plan and provide recommendations for free, but the final decision is yours.

Pensionlite will perform a full pension review to assess how well your current pension is performing, full details of fees charged by your pension provider and alternative schemes that may improve your current arrangements.

If you’re just curious to know more about pension providers, or want to receive an evaluation of your current pension plan, then you can receive a no obligation report and no obligation advice from our specialist team.

Why FSA Regulated?

The Financial Service Authority regulates the financial industry, which includes companies claiming to offer expert advice and recommendations on pensions. When a company is FSA regulated they must provide accurate, fact-based recommendations.

Advisors need to be experienced in their field and research alternative products correctly to provide accurate advice relevant to a customer’s needs and circumstances.

Find out now if your losing money with your pension provider today.

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How Not To Lose Out On Thousands of Pounds of Pension Income when choosing the right pension provider?

Monday, April 25th, 2011

Do not accept the annuity offered by your pension providers without checking out alternatives.

choose the right pension providerWe can’t stress this point enough. If you are approaching retirement age you need to understand that you will be offered information about your fund from pension providers, such as details for purchasing annuities.

However, the annuity offered by your pension provider is unlikely to be as competitive as others available on the market.

In fact, it is thought that you could add up to a third more pension income each year just by purchasing an annuity from an alternative provider!

The Open Market Option, or OMO, was introduced by the UK government in 1975 and allows any annuitant to buy a pension annuity from any provider.

However, research has shown that over 60% of people do not take advantage of this option and simply accept the first annuity offered by their current pension providers.

By exercising this right and shopping around, you could add thousands of pounds to your income every single year.

When the time comes to buying an annuity, it is essential that you give the process some serious consideration.

Once you have purchased an annuity, it cannot ever be altered or transferred, meaning that there is absolutely no opportunity to find better rates.

In addition to just finding a better value product there are further consideration which could enhance your pension by as much as 40%.

Things like, what your main lifetime occupation has been, your post code, smoking habits even if you have given up, are you taking any prescriptive medication, have you had any operations or treatments,  how much you drink, your height and weight, cholesterol and blood pressure.

Despite this almost half of UK pensioners fail to take advantage of their open market option because they either don’t know it exists, or don’t understand how to use it.

You SHOULD seek specialist advice from an independent financial adviser (IFA). The internet cannot provide the filtering and comparisons from the whole of the market place or explain all of your options.

Pensionlite have a team of pension and retirement advisers on hand to help you with any decisions you might be concerned, and provide free advice and guidance when looking to deviate away from your pension provider’s annuity offerings.

There has been an increase in the number of retirees’ who know about their open market option and understanding of pension annuities in recent years. This is excellent news for new pensioners as it means that you will not be subjected to the poor annuity rates offered by your pension providers.

It was found that in 2001 two-thirds of annuitants were not aware that they were allowed to reject the annuity offered by their pension provider, but recent analysis by Association of British Insurers stated that there is an improved level of customer awareness of OMO.

The main reasons for consumers not taking advantage of their OMO is the timescales involved, complicated application forms and not wanting to ruin their ‘relationship’ with their pension provider.

If these are reasons that you are avoiding choosing an alternative pension annuity, contact one of our advisers at Pensionlite.

Pensionlite can help.

Our Free, Independent, No Obligation Retirement 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 retirement 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.

pension providerWe 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.

Our advice process is always to gather a full understanding of our client’s 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.

We look forward to being of service.

To contact us telephone 01952 279 379, e mail enquiries@pensionlite.co.uk

or visit our web site www.pensionlite.co.uk and send us an enquiry that way.

 

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For Impartial Advice on Pension Service UK, Choose Pensionlite

Monday, February 21st, 2011

Pension & Investor Lite carries the prestigious status of Chartered Financial Planners, our pension service uk team will help you.

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.

pension service uk with pensionlitePension & Investor Lite, is an Independent Financial Adviser firm, Directly Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Services Authority, specialising in Pensions & Investment.

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.

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.

We look forward to being of service.

To contact us telephone 01952 279 379 or e mail enquiries@pensionlite.co.uk

What Can You Offer Me?

We specialise in:

  • Pension Release
  • Investment Reviews
  • Pension Reviews
  • Pension Transfer

All of our services come with a no obligation process which means that you can receive an independent pension review and recommendation report before you commit to anything, or more importantly, without handing over any cash.

Are You Genuine?

Unfortunately, our dedication to providing everyone with access to information they are entitled to know without charge has led to an assumption that there must be a catch. Well, if we’re honest – there isn’t!

How Does It Work, Then?

A client is able to pay for services by a fee or by allowing a firm to receive a commission from a product or service SHOULD a transaction occur, meaning that if you decide not to proceed, you won’t have to hand over a penny to us, or anyone else.

Ironically, making decisions about your pension and retirement is one of the most stressful things you will ever have to do, which is why Pensionlite are on hand to help. How can you make informed choices without being informed? Our aim is to ensure that every single one of our clients make the most out of the pension service UK.

We believe everyone has the right to know the facts and figures about their pension and its performance. Our pension review will be carried out by an expert adviser who will obtain all of the information about your pension, including charges investment performance, benefits and rules about your scheme.

You will then see a comparison to what is available on today’s market, and a recommendation report will be provided to you, taking everything into account – even your personal views and aspirations.

Our advice on the pension service UK is usually of particular interest to people who are in any of the following situations:

  • your employer has ceased trading
  • you think your pension may be overpriced
  • you are getting or have been divorced
  • your provider is no longer selling new pensions
  • your company pension is being closed

There are numerous other situations, and our advice is not limited to a select few. Whatever your circumstances, Pensionlite can help you on your way to a happy retirement.

Why Choose Pensionlite?

We are pension and retirement specialists. Don’t get caught out by not understanding your investments – receive a full pension review today, completely free of charge and with no obligation!

Knowledge is power and unless you know, how can you decide on a course of action.

To contact Pensionlite:- Telephone 01952 279 379 E mail enquiries@pensionlite.co.uk

So for Impartial Advice on pension service UK,  Choose Pensionlite

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Finding the right Pension Providers

Friday, September 10th, 2010

Finding the right pension providers and securing the right pension usually go hand in hand with one another. The vital importance of entering into a pension scheme that provides you full financial security when you reach retirement age should not be underestimated by anyone who seeks safety, comfort and stability in their old age and wishes to avoid stress at a time when they should be enjoying the accrued benefits of their working life.

It is crucial that you visit a number of pension providers and enquire about a wide range of available pension schemes before finally making the big decision based on your research and the specialist advice given to you.

To be able to identify the right pension scheme for you, pension providers will have to get a clear picture of your personal details, financial circumstances, and attitudes to assess which pension plan will best suit your requirements and get the most out of your money.

The tough times created by the recent and ongoing recession has underlined the need to put a lot of time and effort into finding the pension scheme with the best charging structure for you.

People can ill afford to lose money in the current economic downturn and must focus on the details of prospective pension plans laid out by pension providers.

Individual pensions require the person taking out the plan to make regular contributions and requiring the person taking out the plan to make regular contributions, individual pensions take the form of either a personal plan, stakeholder or insured personal or self invested pension, which are covered by similar legislation, but often have unique charge structures and product terms, making it imperative to gain as much clear information and advice from the pension providers you visit as you can.

Not to set alarm bells ringing, but it is also often a good idea to seek advice from an independent specialist pension adviser.

It is a sad fact that many pension providers have their staff act like sales people rather than true advisers, setting targets they are placed under pressure to meet, meaning the securing of the sale is often seen as a higher priority than advising the client on the most suitable pension scheme according to their financial situation, aims and needs.

This is not scaremongering, simply common sense derived from knowledge of the current pension market, and a reminder of the importance your decision will make to your future life after retirement.

Pension providers are there to help you, but you can also help yourself by gaining a sound knowledge of the pensions market, thereby enabling you to make a decision based on your individual needs and circumstances.

If you are already contributing to a pension you suspect is not the right scheme for you, a problem occurring with alarming frequency due to many pension providers not updating and changing the charging structure of their old style personal pensions, then approach a specialist pensions adviser who will assess your pension plan and compare it to the current pension market to review whether a pension transfer would benefit for you.

Safety, security, happiness and quality of life: these are the hopes of all in their retirement and visiting a range of pension providers to find the unique suitable pension for you is a giant step toward achieving them.

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