Planning for Retirement

Retirement can bring the realisatiion of a dream to live the life you have always wanted. You could travel more regularly and visit the places you always meant to see, or simply take things easy after years of hard work. The good news is that we are all living longer to enjoy our retirement. The downside is that the financial provisions one makes for retirement will need to last longer.

As a doctor you are probably already a member of the NHS pension scheme. This can provide you with a pension of up to half of your final salary when you retire subject to having 40 years service. However, for most doctors 40 years membership will not be realistic without working beyond the normal retirement age which is currently 60 (and moving towards 65).This is because the vast majority of doctors do not begin service until at least the age of 23.

We can help you to achieve the maximum pension at your chosen retirement age by using NHS Additional Voluntary Contributions or private sector arrangements. Tax relief is available on most retirement planning options and we can provide you with an informed overview to enable you to understand the options..

The Pensions Revolution  

On April 6th 2006 a radical overhaul of UK pensions came into effect known as ‘Pensions Simplification’. Also referred to as ‘A’ day , the new regime offers far wider opportunities for pension planning. One of the historic criticisms of pensions- particularly Personal Pensions - has been the inflexibility of taking benefits at retirement. There is now increased flexibility to provide for capital and income needs.

The benign tax treatment of pensions makes them one of the most tax efficient savings vehicles - especially for the 40% tax payer as for every £1 invested the net cost is only 60p.

The new investment opportunities allow us to create bespoke retirement portfolios using a mixture of different assets and multiple fund managers to maximise investment returns. We can tailor your portfolio to meet your specific retirement goals whilst taking full account of your attitude to investment risk.

If you require help in planning your retirement income we can provide a comprehensive retirement review.  It is much easier to make the right decisions about planning your retirement if you know all of the options that are available. We can help you to:-

• Maximise your NHS pension
• Claim tax relief on personal pension conrtributions
• Avoid the annuity ‘trap’ 
• Use alternative investments to enhance your retirement situation

Contact us for an initial discussion.