Saving for Retirement

Pensions, the Rewards of Prudence

Accumulating a worthwhile pension fund means having to defer the enjoyment of some of your current income. Getting the balance right between enjoying life today and providing for a future where you no longer work is difficult. Expert guidance will help you to understand the issues and work out a program of investment to help strike the right balance between the present and the future.

How do we approach Pensions Advice?

At Lansdown Place we apply the same process to investing your pension monies as we do for your normal investments. Our priority is to determine the most appropriate Pension wrapper to hold your retirement investment. Firstly, we review your retirement aspirations and profile your attitude to risk. We are then in a position to assess whether your existing pension portfolio meets your expectations.

Peace of Mind

We are not here to sell you a new Pension. Instead you get exactly the service you require, whether that is acquiring a new Pension , reshaping your current pension portfolio or simply making sure that everything is in the right place.

Tax benefits

Paying into a pension attracts income tax relief meaning that in effect the government also contributes to your pension. This is one of the few chances you have to get some of your hard earned money back from the tax man. At Lansdown Place we recommend that this opportunity is embraced!

If you have an individual pension your contributions are paid into your fund after tax has already been charged. To offset this, the taxman contributes an amount depending on your tax status subject to HMRC limits. Whether you are a basic or higher rate taxpayer, for every £80 you pay into a personal pension the taxman will add £20.

If you pay higher rate tax, at the end of the tax year you can claim back a further 20% through self assessment. In this case the additional £20 claimable means the cost to you would only be £60. Those paying tax at the additional rate of 50% would enjoy a further 10% on top of this. Lansdown Place are more than happy to guide you through this process.

Even if you do not pay tax you can still benefit from tax relief on contributions you make but only up to a limit of £2,880. The taxman will add 20% on this to make the total £3,600. There is no tax relief for contributions over this amount.

Not only does this tax relief provide an immediate boost to your pension savings from day one, but your fund doesn't pay tax on any capital gains or investment income. Finally, when you take your benefits at retirement you can take up to 25% of it as a tax-free lump sum.

Which Pension Wrapper?

There are many different pension schemes and wrappers, and despite several Government attempts to simplify the pensions regime this area remains complex and wide ranging. Detailed below are a number of the types of schemes on offer, which you may currently or have been a member of at some time. In the pre-retirement years it is important to assess and understand the benefits that you hold within the various pension schemes available in order that you may ensure that your plans are on track.