Pensions and Retirement

At some point in the future, most of us want to stop working, but still be able to continue a relatively good standard of living.

The Government has extended the working careers of both men and women. From April 2024 the following changes will be implemented

• State Pension Age for men and women will increase 65 to 66 from April 2024 to April 2026
• State Pension Age for men and women will increase 66 to 67 from April 2034 to April 2036
• State Pension Age for men and women will increase 67 to 68 from April 2044 to April 2046

The reality of retirement will look different for each individual some wish to retain their existing lifestyle some will want to have plenty of disposable income for filling up their spare time, holidays abroad memberships to various clubs some want to ensure that they can simply meet their fixed outgoings and survive on the income they have.

During our working lives, we have earned income from employment or self-employment to save and pay for food, housing, children’s education and long holidays etc.

When our earned income stops however, there is a clear need for continued income from somewhere. This will normally involve using the income and capital sums earned during our working lives to save a sufficient body of capital on which we can then draw upon to fund your life in retirement

Pensions remain one of the most efficient ways to save. The evolution of the pensions market has seen a variety of choices for clients which can at first appear confusing.

We see a lot of clients who over the years have collected pension from various employments and have never assessed how the plans are doing and often these plans remain in high cost poor performing funds.

At Alpha IFS our advice process will entail assessment of these plan using independent research tools and tailoring a pension plan to suit your needs and reflect your personal attitude to risk.  These plans will then be monitored and assessed by us at our annual review meetings.

We now have far more flexibility to use the ‘pension rules’ to your advantage. We can now use a ‘pension wrapper’ to hold a portfolio of investments which is then sheltered from tax allowing these funds to grow extremely efficiently.