If you are due to retire, congratulations!

If you don’t already have a solid plan for your retirement – or even if you do, when you’re nearing your retirement it’s a good idea to review your options and seek advice. You need to understand the choices for accessing your pension and make a plan for drawing down income from it to ensure you can enjoy the retirement you deserve.

Unless you have a defined benefit pension, it’s likely if you have worked you will have some kind of personal pension.

The final value of this type of scheme depends on:

• The amount of contributions made by you, your employer and any third party

• The performance of the investments made that the scheme is based on

• The charges of the scheme.

You can usually take up to 25% of your pension as a pension commencement lump sum (PCLS) tax free and use the remainder of the funds in different ways to provide you with a pension income. 

Depending on the option you choose, your pension income can be in the form of a secure regular income or you could also consider drawing down income as required.  The level of the drawdown may be limited and this needs to be carefully considered.

The basic options currently available are:

• Buying an annuity

• Flexi-access drawdown

• Lump sums

Even if you aren’t due to retire just yet, we may be able to help you feel more confident with a plan – who knows, you may be able to retire even earlier than you thought!

Give us a call today on 0117 3636 212 or email office@haroldstephens.co.uk to book a complimentary financial review today.