Taking control of your retirement savings is crucial. With so many changing priorities in our busy lives, whether that’s children to support, a new home, changing jobs or even setting up your own business, our retirement savings end up taking a back seat.
A YouGov survey of almost ten thousand people who hold a pension has revealed that just under one in eight admitted they have at least one pension that they had forgotten about.
According to Government figures, there is an estimated £400m in unclaimed pension savings. At the same time, almost three in five UK adults are worried about not having enough money to last them in retirement.
Although tracking down a lost pension can provide a valuable boost to retirement income, those who delay could receive a smaller amount than expected. As a forgotten pension would still be subject to charges and as no contributions are being made into it this could have an impact on the pension pot value. In addition, the pension pot may no longer be invested in the most suitable investment option if your personal circumstances have changed.
Parker Kelly Financial Services provide a free initial meeting to discuss your circumstance objectives and what services we can provide to help you.
A good starting point is to ask yourself the following five questions:
1. ) Do you know the value of your current pension?
Do you read pension statements when they arrive in the post or do you still receive them? You may have moved address. We recommend making a list of all the potential pension you may have and getting the value. This is something the team at Parker Kelly can help you with.
2.) Are you saving enough?
Parker Kelly Financial Services can provide guidance and calculations on what you need to save to ensure you have sufficient savings to provide you with a retirement income. We can help you understand how much you’ll need to enjoy a retirement that meets your expectations, including what’s a potentially sustainable withdrawal rate at retirement.
3.) Are you making the most of pension tax relief?
Tax relief on pension contributions is a valuable benefit. Your personal contributions to a pension receive ‘relief at source’ tax from the Government, with the potential for more for higher-rate taxpayers via Self-Assessment.
For example a net contribution of £80.00 would result in a gross contribution of £100.00 once relief at source has been applied to the contribution.
Parker Kelly Financial Services can provide advice on using the tax relief available for employed, self-employed and business owners. This includes making use of your pension allowances.
4.) Do you know where your pension is invested?
The investments a pension is held in can have a significant impact on the value of a pension. Investment volatility could have increased your investment risk and reduced the value of investments significantly. Diversifying your investment and taking advice on an investment strategy can help your pension grow and reduce the investment risk.
Parker Kelly Financial Service can assist with this as part of our Pension Advice and Retirement Planning service.
5.) Do you have several pension pots?
If you have multiple pensions it may be worth consolidating your pension savings into one pot. This can make it easier to keep track of you pensions and simplify how you take your retirement income. We recommend seeking advice if you are taking this course of action as some pensions provide guarantees and bonuses.
Parker Kelly Financial Services provide a free initial meeting to discuss your circumstance objectives and what services we can provide to help you.
Important Information: The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you invest. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and all tax rules may change in the future. You cannot normally access money in a pension until age 55.
This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment.
Source:
YouGov survey of 9,910 people in the UK (Jan-Dec 2015) who hold a pension carried out on behalf of Friends Life, now part of the Aviva group