You’ve spent years putting money aside into a pension scheme, but what actually happens once you retire? Sadly, it’s not as simple as just withdrawing the money. You must now convert your pension pot into an income that will last you for the rest of your life, which is typically done by buying an annuity.
Monthly Archives: October 2013
Flexible Income Drawdown
In December 2010 the Government announced the introduction of a facility to allow unlimited pension income drawdown as long as members could satisfy a few requirements. This is referred to as ‘flexible income drawdown’ and has been available since 6 April 2011.
Pension schemes
Whether it’s a long way off or just around the corner, having a plan in place for your retirement can help you get the lifestyle that you want. The State pension alone won’t be enough to ensure a comfortable retirement so it’s important to review your options as soon as you can to make sure you can afford life’s little pleasures once you retire. When it comes to planning for retirement, time is your friend. The earlier you start, the longer your money has the potential to grow.
Financial independence
Retirement can mean different things for different people. Many of us hope to retire early. At the same time, we expect to live to a good age. The State simply cannot deliver the standard of living we require in retirement, which is why we all need to consider some degree of personal provision. The good news is there are now more options than ever before, from simple individual pensions to more complex schemes such as Flexible Income Drawdown and Self Invested Personal Pensions.
Offshore investments
For the appropriate investor looking to achieve capital security, growth or income, there are a number of advantages to investing offshore, particularly with regards to utilising the tax deferral benefits. You can defer paying tax for the lifetime of the investment, so your investment rolls up without tax being deducted, but you still have to pay tax at your highest rate when you cash the investment in. As a result, with careful planning, a variety of savers could put offshore investments to good use.
Investing for income
During these difficult economic times, one of the tools available to the Bank of England to stimulate the economy is interest rates. Lower interest rates mean that it is cheaper to borrow money and people have more to spend, hopefully stimulating the economy and reducing the risk of deflation. This is why the Bank of England has aggressively cut them. With interest rates at their lowest levels in history, those relying on the interest from bank or building society accounts to supplement their income potentially face a problem. Indeed, once tax and inflation are taken into account, for many their capital on deposit is at risk of losing money in real terms.
Income distribution bonds
Distribution bonds are intended to provide income with minimal affects on your original investment. They attempt to ensure that any tax-free returns, up to 5 per cent and usually in the form of dividends, do not greatly reduce your original investment, thereby providing the opportunity for future long-term growth. They also combine two different asset classes, equities and bonds, inside one investment wrapper.
Investment bonds
An investment bond is a single premium life insurance policy and is a potentially tax-efficient way of holding a range of investment funds in one place. They can be a good way of allowing you to invest in a mixture of investment funds that are managed by professional investment managers.
Individual Savings Accounts
An Individual Savings Account (ISA) is a tax-efficient ‘wrapper’ designed to go around an investment. You’ve got until 5 April 2014 to use your current 2013/14 tax year annual ISA allowance before you lose it forever.
Investment trusts
Investment trusts are based upon fixed amounts of capital divided into shares. This makes them closed ended, unlike the open-ended structure of unit trusts. They can be one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to invest in the stock market. Once the capital has been divided into shares, you can purchase the shares. When an investment trust sells shares, it is not taxed on any capital gains it has made. By contrast, private investors are subject to capital gains tax when they sell shares in their own portfolio.