Tips to help you plan your retirement pension

New legislation proposal will mean some significant changes, so now is the time to revise a pension plan.

08:58 21 May 2013

Recent news regarding people receiving pensions from the UK who have not visited the country has everyone thinking of their financial futures and their own pensions.

 

The proposed Pension Bill is set to ensure that people will have at least £7,000 for those who have spent at least 35 years caring for children or elderly.

 

By 2016 the rule that a person can claim a pension based upon their history. There are more people who will need to plan accordingly for their retirement.

 

• Employers—use the full extent of any company matching for gaining a better balance in your pension pot.

 

• ISAs—set up one or a combination of a couple ISAs. You can use a Stock and Shares ISA as a long-term investment which may provide significant growth and a Cash ISA for predictable and more secure growth. With the combination of the two you have the best of both worlds and can control the amount of risk by choosing how much you want to deposit in the Stocks and Shares ISA.

 

• Regular savings—since there is an annual cap on the amount you can contribute to ISA accounts, if you are ambitious you may want to also open a regular savings account which will allow you to save as much as you want for your pension or emergencies, though the interest rate is much smaller so growth will be negligible.

 

• Property—for some people property is good investment after doing a little bit of research and can allow you the opportunity to sell it off if needed, and if well-planned you could end up with a sizable profit.

 

There hasn’t been a better time to think about the state of your pension following these announcements, so it’s imperative to consider your retirement plans and start saving as soon as possible.