Pensions are changing (again!)

Lubbock Fine, 7 October 2020

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From 2028, the age at which individuals can access their pension is set to rise from 55 to 57.

The Government has confirmed its intention to increase the age at which people can access their private pensions. The aim is to set the minimum retirement age to 10 years below the state pension age. This could help reflect trends in longevity, encourage individuals to remain in work longer, and help to ensure that pension savings are used for later life.

What does this mean for you?

The full details are pending. However, depending on your age, you might be forced to wait two years to access benefits if your birthday falls on the ‘wrong side’ of the cut-off date. This would also give you two more years of pension contributions and investment growth, which could change the size of your pension pot.

A 45-year-old today, with pension savings of £200,000 and making pension
contributions of £1,000 per month would have a pension pot of £480,991 by the time they are 55 (assuming a 5% growth per annum). If they continued saving at the same rate for another two years, the pension pot would grow to £555,839 – a staggering difference of £74,848.

What if you would still like to retire at 55?

You still can! It is worth considering adding money into other tax wrappers, such as Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) and General Investment Accounts. These are accessible from any age and can be part of your ‘retirement fund’.

What 7 things should you ask yourself about retirement?

It is important that every individual considers the following questions:

  1. What does comfortable retirement look like?
  2. Am I making enough provisions?
  3. When would I like to retire?
  4. Is it possible to improve the investment returns of my pension?
  5. Is my pension flexible enough to provide me with a range of retirement options (lump sums, regular income, a guaranteed annuity payment or a combination of all)?
  6. What are the charges being applied to my pension?
  7. Have I nominated a beneficiary who would receive my pension in the event of my death?

 How can we help?

If you require any assistance with your retirement planning and pensions, please contact Görkem Gökyiğit (gorkemgokyigit@lfwm.co.uk).

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