Planning for Retirement
Retirement may well be a long way off for some and a lot nearer for others. Whatever our age and circumstances, planning for the future is important and the sooner we start that planning, the better. Our future lifestyle choices will be determined, to a great extent, by what we do now.
There are a number of key areas that are worth understanding.
Auto-Enrolment Pensions
It is now mandatory that every employer offers and contributes to a pension on behalf of its employees and eligible employees will automatically be enrolled in the scheme.
This is an important step forward and an opportunity not to be missed.
New figures show that by 2020 over 10 million people are expected to be newly saving or saving more as a result of automatic enrolment. This means that an additional £17 billion a year is projected to be saved into workplace pensions by 2019/20.
The figures also take into consideration that three quarters of the total working population are now estimated to meet the age and earnings criteria for automatic enrolment.
Over 6.7 million people have already been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension by more than 250,000 employers.
State Pension
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published three guidance documents on saving and planning for retirement. The guidance includes details of the new state pension and how this can be increased if insufficient for a person’s retirement needs.
State Pension entitlement is dependent on each individuals National Insurance Record.
All three documents can be accessed using the link below.
Personal Pensions
Personal Pensions offer excellent tax advantages, since contributions that a person makes attract tax relief. For example:
At either stage, the correct advice is important. If you would like to discuss your options in more detail, please get in touch.
