Retirement Planning in Northampton & Milton Keynes

Planning for retirement?

As you move towards retirement, there are a number of things to consider, including:

When do you wish to retire?
- You can access your pension at any time over age 55
- You could carry on working, for instance on a part time basis or ad-hoc basis, even if you have started to draw on your pension.
- Depending on your overall financial position, it may sometimes make sense to leave your pension untouched for a while and use non-pension savings to provide an income.
- Or you could take just some of your pension and leave the balance in place.
- If you have more than one pension plan, it may be worth considering bringing them together in order to do retirement planning more efficiently. This may also reduce the charges.
How much income will you need?

It is important to consider your likely income needs in retirement planning, and to then consider if you will receive income from elsewhere, e.g. state pension, in the future.

You will have options as to how you draw income from your individual pension plans, which are broadly as follows:
- Use the pot to buy yourself a guaranteed income for the rest of your life – known as an annuity.
- Only take money from the pot as required – known as income drawdown.
- Take all your money from your pension pot in one go.
There are many variations of the above and many things to think about – not least tax – before a final decision is made.
Would you like a lump sum?

It may be that a capital sum would be useful to for instance:
- Repay a mortgage or other debts before you fully retire.
- Carry out some home improvements in readiness for retirement planning.
- Have money for holidays and travel.
Other things to think about:
- How would you like to spend your time in retirement?
- How might your health change as you age?
- Would you like to provide a lump sum and/or income for your loved ones if you die
Do you have details of all your current and past pensions?

It would be useful to have up to date details of all your pension plans. It you’ve lost track of a pension, we may be able to help locate it, or the Government’s Pension Tracing Service may be able to help.

Next Step

To discuss your individual circumstances and retirement planning in more detail, please feel free to contact us for an initial consultation, which can be by telephone or by a face-to-face meeting. There is no charge for an initial consultation.

The value of your investments may go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount invested. Accessing pension benefits early may impact on levels of retirement income, your entitlement to certain means tested benefits and is not suitable for everyone. You should seek advice to understand your options at retirement. The tax rates applying are subject to the individual circumstances of the investor. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate taxation and trust advice.

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