Here at Stan Williams and Associates Ltd. Financial Planning, we pride ourselves on making the complex world of pensions as simple as possible. We’ll explain everything to you in clear, straightforward language whether it’s at a face-to-face meeting or in a formal written report setting out our retirement planning advice for you. Overall, we take a holistic approach which looks at your pension arrangements in the light of your wider, overall financial position. This enables us to tie everything together and give you a financial solution that best achieves your financial goals.
Whatever your existing pension arrangements, we are confident that our review of your pension plans and personal financial position, and our recommendations moving ahead, can put you on the right path to achieving your ultimate aim – true financial freedom and independence in retirement. A key cornerstone of your personal financial plan has to be making provision for your retirement. Unfortunately, far too many people avoid the issue altogether and put off making a decision. After all, for many people it may be decades in the future before they retire. Even those who sensibly start paying into a pension scheme early on in their careers have only done half the job. They probably don’t realise that you need to regularly monitor both the performance of your pension fund and underlying charges, and ensure that your contributions are keeping pace with inflation. What’s more, if the global economy suffers a downturn as it did in 2008, this will almost certainly have a knock-on effect on the value of your pension, and you may need to make changes to it. Yet, by carrying out some simple financial planning early in your career and taking a more active role in monitoring your pension, you can look forward to a more financially secure and comfortable retirement.
You’ve spent 30 to 40 years saving into a pension, and now that you’re approaching your retirement, you need to turn it into an income that might need to last for the next two decades or even longer. So, where do you start?
The income and investment choices you now have can be bewildering, and poor decisions in the early days can have catastrophic consequences later on.
When you reach retirement, the way you convert your pension savings into a regular income depends on the type of pension you have and how much you have saved. Regardless of the size of your pension pot, there has been greater flexibility introduced for everyone since April 2015. These days, you have many more options available at retirement – an annuity or enhanced annuity, flexi-access drawdown, uncrystallised funds pension lump sums and more.
The perfect retirement plan will be different for everyone. It depends on various factors including how much you have in savings and other assets, your health, your income needs, your attitude towards investment planning and whether you want to pass wealth on to your family.
Obviously, everyone’s pension funds, future plans and financial requirements are different. The best option for you will depend on your unique personal circumstances. There certainly isn’t one solution which will suit everyone.
As with all financial planning matters, you need to bear in mind your wider financial picture before making any big decision about your pension. At Stan Williams and Associates Ltd. we are committed to helping you make the right financial decision every time, and when it comes to your pension fund the wrong choice can be extremely costly for you and your family.
