Having a pension today is recognised as just one important step along the path to achieving your dreams once you have stopped working. Now, not only must you carefully consider where you actually invest your pension money and how you are going to use your pension, but if appropriate you should also review other forms of retirement savings. Reviewing your retirement planning is critical, and probably the single most important decision you can make to help you realise your long-term goals. Read the rest of this entry »

Isn’t it time to tailor your pension to
suit your own personal requirements?

More investors are now able to take their entire pension as cash. Flexible drawdown allows you to take up to a quarter of your pension tax free as a lump sum, and then unlimited taxable withdrawals if set criteria are met. Read the rest of this entry »

The Government has issued a consultation on allowing transfers between Child Trust Funds (CTFs) and Junior ISAs (JISAs)

CTFs were one of Gordon Brownís recurrent Budget ideas. They eventually became reality in April 2005, with the Government making payments of around £250 or £500 for children born after 31 August 2002. Parents and others could make top-up contributions, but few did. Read the rest of this entry »

The State Pension accounts for 36 per cent of the average retirement income in 2013

One in seven (14 per cent) people planning to retire this year will depend on the State Pension as they have no other pension, according to new research from Prudential. Read the rest of this entry »

What reasons do you have for
not investing in your future?

People who make bad money decisions as well as bad investment decisions can often rationalise them. The most common excuses are included below, but there are plenty of others. These arguments are often elaborate short-term excuses that we use to justify behaviour that often contradicts our own long-term interests. Read the rest of this entry »