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Pensions |
Probably the most unfashionable word in the English language.
Who wants to talk about pensions? When was the last time
you stood at the bar and listened in on a conversation
where someone was enthusing about pensions? Financial
independence, early retirement, working when you want
to work, financial security; now we are talking, everyone
is interested in these subjects.
Retirement used to be about, let's be frank, working
until age 65 and then expecting to live perhaps another
5-10 years doing not a great deal. My memories of older
people when I was young seem to involve fairly low financial
expectations and not exactly an expansive, active lifestyle.
Not anymore. Average life expectancy at birth in 1900
was 48, now it's nearly 80. People now want to retire
at 55, meaning that we positively plan to be retired
for possibly longer than we worked; frightening. On
top of that, it's when we retire that we start to think
about all the things we can do, most of which will require
money in no small amount. We will most likely have our
health, no shortage of things to do but we need the
cash to make the most of the myriad of opportunities.
So why are pensions so unfashionable? Well try this
for size:
You give me 8% of your salary per month for 30 years
and I will give you 2 inches of paperwork that will
send you to sleep, along with a vague promise of some
sort of income in retirement. Does that sound familiar?
Would you buy such a deal? No, of course not.
Targeted, measured planning that takes account of your
needs now, in the future and in-between, including school/education
fees, career breaks, expected inheritance, attitude
to risk and so on is the best way forward. Lawrence
Miller will be happy to talk about planning your financial
future and we DO assume that one day you will stop work.
But, not if you don't want to! The key issue surely
is, if you have to stop work for reasons that you did
not expect, will you be financially independent?
You need to be and we will show you how you can achieve
this goal.
Pension contracts should form part of most peoples
planning but, we take the view that no stone should
remain unturned in putting together the right combination
of investment vehicles that suit your and your family’s
need. Personal Pensions, Stakeholder Pensions, AVCs,
ISAs, Occupational Schemes may all play a part. There
are new and exciting changes happening next year with
regard to the rules surrounding Self Invest Personal
Pensions (SIPPs). There will be a new page on this topic
in the New Year.
And another thing, while I'm on my soap box..... It
makes far more sense to preserve what family money you
have or expect, rather than saving it all up again.
So if you think your family money may be at risk from
Inheritance Tax or the cost of providing care for the
older members of your family, call us.
We believe all these issues are bound up with planning
your retirement and should be part of a wide ranging
discussion.
For more information and examples of the planning tools
available to you, click here.
Call us if you need to make an appointment.
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