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Pension planning and advice

Making the most of your pension so you can plan for a fulfilling retirement

woman sat on sofa using tablet

Could your pension be working harder?

You should have so much to look forward to when you retire. Yet how you prepare and build up your pensions could have a big impact on what your future looks like, and your ability to do the things that matter to you.

Hopefully you’re already paying into a pension. But as they offer lots of valuable benefits, it’s worth checking if you’re doing enough to boost your retirement lifestyle.

What is pension planning?

Most of us pay into a workplace pension. It’s a contribution you might notice on your wage slip, and not think too much about. But it’s never too early to start considering if you’re on track to have enough money to achieve your retirement goals, and if you could be doing more to prepare.

Reasons to consider pension planning

  • Make more of your pension tax benefits
  • Potential to grow your wealth
  • Feel more confident about retirement
  • Greater freedom when using your pension savings

Pension planning advice from Skipton

  • In-depth review of your current plans
  • Advice tailored to your needs
  • Recommendations on building a retirement strategy
  • Free to find out if financial advice could be right for you

A pension is a long-term investment. The value of your fund can go down or up and you may get back less than you invested. Your eventual income will depend upon factors such as the size of your fund at retirement, future interest rates and tax rules. The way your pension is taxed depends on personal circumstances. Tax rules may change in the future.

Our Pension Review Service

At Skipton, we’re helping thousands of people plan towards a fulfilling retirement. Our team of financial advisers are ready to do the same for you.

Our Pension Review Service could give you a clearer picture of how much money you’re on track to achieve in retirement.

We’ll carefully review what you have, including any defined contribution pensions you have from old jobs. This includes checking their performance, prospects and any valuable benefits they offer.

Where you require advice on existing investments/pensions the minimum value required, including the investments/pensions under review, is £50,000.

How much do you need in a pension to retire?

That’s the big question. And the answer is…it depends. Your retirement goals are personal, and you ideally need enough money to achieve what matters to you.

To achieve a comfortable retirement lifestyle, you’re likely to need more than £200,000 saved up in a pension. That might seem like a lot. But it is possible.

 

An illustrative example

  • We’ve assumed your underlying pension investment will grow by an average of 5% a year. If your investments grow by a lower amount, you would need to save more to achieve your target. Please note this is an illustrative example only.
  • We’ve also assumed you’ll retire at 65.
  • The monthly contributions set out in the table below are before tax (i.e. gross). This example is also based on a single life pension and doesn't factor in the rate of inflation or any charges.
Target value at 65From age 30From Age 40From age 50
£100,000£89£168£375
£250,000£221£420£936

Frequently Asked Questions

There are some brilliant tax incentives available for defined contribution pensions. If you have a workplace pension, your employer will also pay into it through employer matching.

Beyond that, it might also help to set up another pension to boost your plans.

  • When you invest into a pension, you automatically receive an extra 20% in your pot through tax relief. If you’re a higher or additional rate taxpayer and claim for it, you can get tax relief of 40% or 45% (Scottish taxpayers receive tax relief on anything up to 20%, anything above this they need to claim for).
  • You can usually gain tax relief on the amount you earn each tax year; however, this is capped by the annual pension allowance of £60,000.
  • If you’ve not made full use of your last three annual pension allowances, you can usually carry them forward and make the most of tax relief.
  • When it’s inside a pension wrapper, there’s no tax to pay on any growth you achieve.
  • You can’t normally access your pension until you’re 55 (or 57 from 2028).

  • 25% of the pot is tax-free to withdraw (capped at £268,275) over your lifetime. You pay tax on the rest in line with income tax bands. 
  • No restrictions on how you use your pension when you withdraw from it. 
  • When you retire you could keep your pension invested, using it to draw an income or take lump sums. This gives your pension the chance to continue to grow further, although your money is at risk. 
  • If you want more security, you could use your pension to arrange a guaranteed income through an annuity. 

We’re here to offer as much or as little support as you need.

For example, we could help you to set up a new pension to invest your money in, which you can manage yourself. We'll make recommendations based on our panel of investment options and present options suited to your personal circumstances.

If you’re looking for more help and are happy to pay an ongoing charge, we offer a range of ongoing service options that can help you prepare for retirement and even help you keep on top of your plans.

Where you require advice on existing investments/pensions the minimum value required, including the investments/pensions under review, is £50,000. 

The great thing about our Pension Review Service is we will do all the hard work for you.

We will communicate with your defined contribution pension providers to obtain detailed information on each scheme. This allows our in-house experts to analyse the strength of your plans.

Depending on your situation, this research might take a few months to complete – that’s so we can get a really accurate picture for you.

But at the end, we'll do our best so that you can be in a position to make informed decisions about your future. 

Request a call back today

Book your FREE initial consultation to find out if financial advice might be right for you. Simply fill in your details and we’ll be in touch at a time that suits you.

 

What to expect

  • The call will take as little or as long as you need.
  • We'll ask a few questions to understand your situation.
  • You'll also be able to ask any questions you have and find out how we can help.
  • And there's no obligation to take things any further.
Request a callback

Prefer to call us?

Arrange your appointment by calling us on 0345 266 9395