Pensions
News and news-related programmes on television and radio these days are full of items about pensions, the current political ‘hot potato’. Every expert featured on these programmes warns that very few of us, the ‘ageing population’, will be able to maintain our usual standard of living once we retire, because we are simply not saving enough. This is true and is a vital issue that cannot be put off. At Financial Planning Options Ltd we can help to give you peace of mind on this crucial and complex matter. First we will outline for you the features of the different types of pension plans, and then, working closely with you, we will identify the one that is most suitable for you. There is a wide choice of pensions, such as:
- Personal Pension
- Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)
- Stakeholder Pension
- Free Standing Additional Voluntary Contribution Scheme
- Additional Voluntary Contribution Scheme
- Executive Pension Plan
- Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS)
These plans all have one thing in common – you regularly put savings into them in order to build a fund for your retirement. The more money in your pot when you retire, the larger the pension you will get.
And there are plans we use to pay your retirement income:
- Income Drawdown
- Phased Retirement
- Annuities
The current level of the Basic Old Age Pension Scheme is £95.25 per week (2009-2010) To put it another way, it is £4,953.00 per annum whereas the average salary is now £25,428 per annum (Office for National Statistics 04/2009).
Where will the extra money come from in order to maintain your current standard of living?
As soon as you retire, you will not be generating any more income from work, so that the amount of money that you have saved is going to have to last until you die. A man aged 65 today will have a 50% chance of living to 82.2 years old; for a woman it is 84.9 (Office for National Statistics 30/10/08).
Our Advisers are regularly assess through annual testing to ensure that they maintain a high level of competency and knowledge in this complex area of planning.