Tax treatment depends on your circumstances and is subject to change
Hands up if you’ve ever left something to the last minute? Our research1 previously revealed that many Brits put off many life admin tasks every single day, often meaning they are worse off financially. One in five men and women put off paying a bill, and a third receive a financial penalty for doing so. 41% don’t bother to shop around for cheaper gas and electricity providers meaning they are vulnerable to price hikes and being tied in to poor deals. And 27% put off budgeting their money all together1.
Now what about if you put off thinking about your pension for another day, or another year? Possibly until it is too late for you to be able to make the difference you need for a comfortable future…
It’s quite scary to think that 81%2 of people have not given much thought about how much they should be paying into a pension. And 53% of those who do have a pension have not reviewed what its worth in the last 12 months. That feels like a ticking time bomb which could reveal a nasty surprise when you come to retire.
We understand that life gets stupidly busy, and it’s the pressing things in the here and now that demand our attention. Nonetheless, it’s worrying that 45% of over 55’s have given little to no thought about their retirement plans, and that only improves by 10% when people reach State Pension age3.
Leaving your retirement planning to the eleventh hour could mean you have less time to save for your future, and you could miss out on many years of additional contributions, tax-relief and compound interest. All of which could add some serious growth to the value of your pension pot.
Yet, why don’t we put the future at the forefront of our minds a lot earlier? Our recent research4 revealed that the top five reasons why people don’t take their pension seriously when they are young enough to do something about it are:
Imagine how you’d feel if someone told you that you could have had thousands more in your pension, if only you’d addressed it earlier? Not great, right?
There could still be time to maximise your pension savings, providing you take action now. Poor performance and high charges could be eating away at your pension pot. Thankfully, it’s easier than you might think to find out how well your fund is performing and what a pension that is properly tailored to you could mean.
If your pension clock is ticking, Pension Access can check your pension for you. With our no obligation check you can find out exactly how your current pension is doing and if there is a better scheme out there for you and why.
Most importantly, you can take back control.
We will not charge you a fee upfront to check your pension, which means once we have completed our review you have the option to walk away fully informed. As part of our review we will let you know how much it will cost you should you ask us to act on your behalf. Generally, there is the option for the fee to be taken from your pension, so there would be no extra money for you to find.
1Survey of 2,000 UK adults by Pension Access in March 2018.
2Financial Conduct Authority Data Bulletin, March 2018.
3Financial Conduct Authority Data Bulletin, March 2018. State Pension Age, 65. 35% of 65+ year olds have given little to no thought about planning for retirement.
4Survey of 2,003 employed UK adults by Pension Access in February 2019.
We can help you to make the best possible decisions when it comes to your pension.
Taking pension money early is not right for everyone as it will leave you worse off in retirement. Also, tax treatment depends on your circumstances and is subject to change. That’s why it makes sense to get help from a regulated specialist.
