News

Pension freedoms

Retirees now have a whole host of new options

The pension freedoms, introduced on 6 April 2015, have given retirees a whole host of new options. There is no longer a compulsory requirement to purchase an annuity (a guaranteed income for life) when you retire. The introduction of pension freedoms brought about fundamental changes to the way we can access our pension savings.

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ISA returns of the year

Time to explore your ISA options?

An Individual Savings Account (ISA) enables you to save in a simple, tax-efficient way, while generally giving you instant access to your money. This gives you short, medium and long-term saving options, and with the end of the current tax year not too far away, it’s important to make the most of your annual tax-free ISA allowance.

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Age is just a number

What rising life expectancy could mean for you

We know that age is just a number, and for different people it means different things. It’s also a phrase used by some people who oppose age restrictions. In the UK, 65 years of age has traditionally been taken as the marker for the start of older age, most likely because it was the official retirement age for men and the age at which they could draw their State Pension.

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How prepared are you for retirement?

Planning ahead helps ensure that you’re on track

You work hard to enjoy your current lifestyle, but are you doing enough to ensure that you will continue to enjoy it in retirement? Many of us live for today, but saving into a private pension plan can help you retire sooner rather than later.

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The big questions to ask before you retire

Are you on track to enjoy the retirement you want?

If you’re among the many older UK workers who will say farewell to full-time work in the next five years, now’s a good time to make sure you’re truly prepared. Whether you’re viewing the next phase of life as retirement, semi-retirement or an unknown adventure, it’s essential that you obtain professional financial advice. From age 55, you have the flexibility to choose how you take some or all of your money from your pension.

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Wealth uplift

Calculating the value of financial advice

Quantifying the value of financial advice has always been a challenge because people who receive financial advice have different characteristics to those who do not. But what if it was now possible to quantify the value of financial advice and isolate a pure ‘advice effect’? This is exactly what the researchers at the International Longevity Centre – UK (ILC) have been able to calculate.

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Life after work

Plan for the future you want

Early retirement is no longer defined as the moment when you stop working forever. For many people, it’s simply the moment when you no longer have to work for money. But this also means being in a financial position to choose to keep working if you enjoy what you’re doing.

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How do I plan for my retirement?

Self-employed business owners face unique challenges

Saving for retirement can be more challenging when you are self-employed, as there is no one to organise a pension for you and no employer making contributions on your behalf. On top of that, self-employed workers often don’t have a regular income, so many will focus on setting aside money as a safety net if they cannot work.

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Bullish millennials

Putting money to work earlier allows more time for savings to grow

Millennials are more bullish than any other generation about their retirement savings, a major new study has found[1]. But with time on their side, should they be doing more?

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Mind the gap

Self-employed would back new laws to expand retirement savings

For the self-employed, even if the will to save for retirement is there, the way can be problematic. Self-employed workers want Government help to save for retirement and would back new laws to expand auto-enrolment or to make saving for retirement compulsory, new research[1] shows.

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