Pensions and Life After Work

Planning for the One-Hundred Year Life

“Many of us have been raised on the traditional notion of a three-stage approach to working lives: education, followed by work and then retirement. But this well-established pathway is already beginning to collapse... Whether you are 18, 45 or 60, you will need to do things very differently from previous generations and learn to structure your life in completely new ways.”

— Prof. L. Gratton & Prof. A. Scott The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity London: Bloomsbury

Longevity is already changing how people live and work. All evidence points to us living longer, healthier lives which we rightly want to live as fully as possible. Our lives will be much longer than has historically been the case, longer than the role models on which we currently base life decisions, and longer than is assumed in our current practices and institutional arrangements. Whatever our age or background, we all need to be prepared and to adapt accordingly.

When discussing your one-hundred year life we want to help you make the most of this gift. It may be that you plan to stay ‘in the game’ or to slow down a little, travel the world, or devote your new found freedom to a lifelong passion. We help you to plan for that point at which income isn’t the main reason for waking up in the morning or guiding the decisions you take about how you spend your time.

Our Pensions and Life After Work Solution

When and how you can afford to slow down

We first discuss when you hope to stop work or slow down and what you would like this next phase of life to look like. We then work out how much money you will need to achieve your plans. Through an analysis of your savings and outgoings we forecast how long your money will last; whether you are on track; and suggest what else you may need to do to get there.

Saving for life after work

Saving for retirement is perhaps the greatest financial challenge faced by most people. We offer advice in a number of areas:

  • Using your annual allowance, and navigating the complex tapered annual allowance for higher earners

  • Making extra pension contributions using pension carry forward

  • Assessing your pension against the lifetime allowance tax charge

  • Using other savings and investments, such as ISAs

  • Ensuring your savings are held in high-quality investments

Your investments

As you depend upon the investments held in your pension or elsewhere for income in retirement, it is especially important to be confident that these investments are working hard for you. We manage your investments to ensure that they do and review your portfolio over time, giving you the certainty that it continues to reflect both your future needs and current circumstances. This may involve portfolio re-balancing, reducing your investment risk as you approach retirement; or switching the focus of your portfolio to generating an income at the point you retire.

Taking an income

When it comes to taking an income, there are many options available to you - retirement is no longer about simply saving into a pension and buying an annuity. We advise on the most suitable way in which to take your retirement income in accordance with your individual requirements, whilst at the same time taking advantage of the various tax allowances available. This may involve taking a pension lump sum; buying an annuity; selling off parts of your investment portfolio; and/or taking income from ISAs, dividends and cash savings. We show you how long your money should last and let you know how much you can afford to spend each year.

Passing on your pension

Passing on a pension has become a popular estate planning tool as pensions are free from Inheritance Tax. We offer advice on whether you can afford to fund your retirement from other sources, potentially leaving your pension untouched in order to pass it on to the next generation tax-free.

A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances, tax legislation and regulation which are subject to change in the future.