When you decide the time is right to begin claiming your defined benefit pension you will usually be presented with at least two choices, take the maximum income available or a lump sum option and lower income.   This is not a decision that should be taken lightly as once made it will be irreversible and you will be stuck with that choice for the rest of your life.   So which option is best? Well, it will depend on your circumstances so let’s explore further. What does the lump sum option mean  A defined benefit pension, also normally referred to as a final salary p ..read more

It’s been widely reported recently that a large opinion poll states we are on course for a new Labour party government at the next election. The next general election looks likely to be later in 2024.   By the time the next election does come round who knows exactly what government we will have. If it is to be the Labour party many right-wing media will have you believe that this spells disaster for your retirement savings.   I don’t want to get into which party is better for the country, I want to look at the facts including what the Labour party have said they plan to do ..read more

Back in the 2015/16 Premier League football season Leicester City were able to achieve something quite astonishing.   This was a time when the league was dominated by big teams such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham. Teams that had a much larger following, were worth huge amounts of money and spent large amounts buying the world’s best players.   It wasn’t one of the ‘big six’ that won the title that season though. It was Leicester.  It wasn’t all plain sailing for Leicester though. They didn’t have star players at the ti ..read more

Holding the right amount of cash in retirement could be the difference between you running out of money or having far more money than you will ever need.   You don’t want all your money in cash in retirement though, that would be disastrous and hopefully by now you realise you need to invest the majority of your money in real assets like global stocks.  So how much cash should you hold? Well, there is a simple formula to it and this article will explain how it works.    Why holding cash in retirement is an excellent investment strategy  When we talk about h ..read more

It’s a new year and that will mean new investment predictions are made by the biggest investment managers around the globe.   If you are planning to retire in the next few years, then hopefully you realise you need to invest your savings to ensure your money doesn’t run out in retirement before you.   Millions of people around the world will look out for these predictions with interest as they worry whether now is the time to be investing their savings or if they have already, should they be selling their investments to avoid impending doom.   You may think, the ..read more

A young person today is far more likely to suffer a serious illness than they are to die so a critical illness policy should be a higher priority than life insurance.   However, due to today’s lifestyles and the advances in detecting a critical illness the cost for this type of insurance is quite high.   This is where you as a parent could step in by not only helping them secure a policy but also saving your estate some potential future Inheritance Tax.    What a critical illness policy does  A critical illness policy is insurance that will usually pay out ..read more

If you own a limited company then you have two choices when it comes to pension saving, either make company pension contributions or pay contributions from your personal income.   The tax savings made by company pension contributions are significant.   You don’t even need to be a company owner though to benefit from extra tax savings. If you work for a flexible employer, they might be willing to help you make your pension saving much more efficient.     Company pension contributions vs personal contributions  When we talk about company pension contribu ..read more

You can still pay into a pension after taking a lump sum and it won’t cost you anything in taxes providing you do it the right way.   Most modern day pensions, known as defined contribution pensions allow you to take 25% of the total pension value as a tax free lump sum from minimum pension age.   You don’t need to take the full 25% in one go and could crystallise just part of your pension and take 25% of the smaller crystallised amount.   There can be lots of reasons why you might want to take a lump sum out of your pension whilst you are still working and payin ..read more

On Wednesday 22nd November the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt stood up and delivered the government’s Autumn Statement 2023.   It feels like we have seen quite a lot of Mr Hunt since the end of the Liz Truss premiership back in October last year.   The government were keen to praise themselves for the fact we are seeing inflation falling and an economy still growing very slightly. In reality there is little any government actually does in reducing inflation. There is a natural cycle to these things and it’s actually the independent Bank of England that has the job of maintaining t ..read more

Should you be holding property in your investment portfolio?   In just the last month three major property funds have announced that they are either suspended or closing down completely.   Does this mean time is up for property as an investment?  Not necessarily. Global property is still huge. It’s estimated that global real estate is valued at around $326trillion. To put that into perspective that’s more than all global equities and fixed interest combined.   It’s still the biggest store of wealth.   To consider whether you should be including pro ..read more