Choosing the best way to access your retirement savings

This can be a very complex decision at a time when you should be looking forward to your retirement. Our advisers are specialists in this area and we help clients get ready for retirement every week.

Common questions

We can assess your circumstances, your plans and your available retirement savings to recommend the best course of action for you. Your adviser will create a personalised retirement plan for you using their knowledge and experience along with specialist software. They will take time to explain everything clearly to you, without the use of any jargon or technical terms.

For most people, a private or company pension is the key source of their retirement savings. However you might have other forms of retirement savings including investment properties, a business, Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) or cash-based savings. Our company can offer advice on each of these potential sources of retirement savings, to ensure our advice covers all aspects of your personal finances.

It is important to remember that a little bit of advice now could enhance your retirement income for the next 30 years and beyond. It could also ensure that your family is protected if you pass away early in retirement and help you avoid an unnecessary tax bill.

There are two main ways in which you can use your private pension to fund your retirement: you can buy an annuity or use drawdown. There are also less common methods, including encashing the full value of your pension as a single lump sum (which is called taking an “Uncrystallised Fund Pension Lump Sum”) or buying a product which shares some its features with an annuity and other features with drawdown.

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