With increasing life expectancy and frequent changes to pensions legislation, it is more important than ever to get expert advice.
Errors in your retirement planning could seriously affect your quality of life in later years. At Lionmede, we will design you a plan that is tailored to your personal circumstances. We will then review it regularly to ensure it remains on track. For those nearer to retirement, we will advise you on the right options before, during and after.
We also recognise that pensions are not the only way to build wealth for later years – other savings and assets, including ISAs or property, may also form part of your overall strategy.
Calculating how much you need to save for retirement can be challenging. We would normally start by asking you some basic questions, such as:
• When do you want to retire?
• How much income would you like to have in retirement?
• How much can you afford to save based on your income?
We then have a range of tools that will help you to understand your current position, illustrate your goals and project the growth that you’ll need to succeed.
The greatest risk to your retirement is doing nothing and leaving it too late. It’s also important not to expose yourself to unnecessary risk by over-relying on one asset type (e.g. property). Whether you’re close to retirement or many years away, we will analyse your position and work through a range of potential scenarios before formulating your retirement strategy.
The government offers generous tax relief and allowances to incentivise savers. Utilising what’s on offer will help you to build considerable value in your fund. Charges, time, the level of your contributions and the performance of your investments are all factors that will affect your success over time. It’s also important to understand your position in relation to the Lifetime Allowance and Annual Allowance.
Designing and implementing your retirement strategy is the start of the process. It is equally as important to keep your progress under regular review. Your plan needs to be flexible enough to adapt to changes in your circumstances, new tax rules and legislation.
As part of our service, we can review and evaluate your existing pensions and investments to help you take back control of your finances. There is a vast difference between the best performing plans and the worst. The following are just some of the criteria that we use when conducting our analysis:
Are your objectives clearly defined? Are your plans likely to meet your needs and requirements?
Have you been monitoring the level of risk you have been taking with your plans? Are you protecting yourself with adequate diversification?
Do you know how well your plans are performing? Have you been monitoring your returns?
Do you know how much your plans are costing you? Are you getting good value for money?
Do your plans offer you enough flexibility when it comes to your investment options? Have you outgrown them?
Do your pension plans facilitate all of the income options now available?
In the months leading up to your retirement we can analyse all of your assets, not just your pensions. We can illustrate different income scenarios based on varying life expectancies, projected growth rates and risk levels. We can develop a comprehensive and tax efficient income strategy for you, highlighting the advantages, disadvantages and wider considerations for each of your options. It’s important to remember that you won’t be able to reverse some of these decisions, so making smart choices is essential.
After you have retired we can continue ensure that your income plan remains suitable for your needs and requirements. If desired, we can also help you to pass on wealth to future generations tax efficiently.
• At what age would you like to retire (or start to retire)?
• How much income would you like in retirement?
• How much income do you need in retirement?
• How much income can you afford in retirement?
• What are your pensions worth?
• At what age can you access them?
• Have you had a State Pension statement?
• Do your pensions facilitate pension freedom?
• Have you reviewed their performance and charges?
• Do they remain fit for purpose?
• Will you breach the Lifetime Allowance Limit?
• Have you had issues with the Annual Allowance?
• Do you understand how to value all of your pensions?
• What other assets can you use to fund retirement?
• Have you reviewed your ISAs and other investments?
• Are they working hard enough for you?
• Are your investments tax efficient?
• Do you know the extent of your Inheritance Tax liability?
• Have you explored your options for mitigating it?
Your capital is at risk. Investments can fluctuate in value and you may not get back the amount you invest. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Tax rules can change at any time.
