Pension choices - Personal, Self-Invested or Occupational?

Retirement Pensions
It is a well established fact that the average age of the population is rising in many western countries including the United Kingdom.

At the same time, the size of the workforce is in decline and traditional tax revenues, used to fund pension payments, have been in decline too as a consequence. With more and more people becoming eligible for a State Pension, and with less money available to pay for it, there is mounting pressure on UK Governments of whatever political persuasion to resolve the so-called 'pensions time bomb'. No wonder then that the UK Government would prefer to raise the retirement age to seventy as a standard practice for all.

Opening up the pensions market to third party providers has lessened the pressure to some extent but implies a longer term desire by government to end the provision of a state pension at some time in the future.

The need for a pension in later life is obvious since most people would like to believe they could at least maintain the same standard of living that they enjoyed throughout their working life yet, without planning for retirement, this may be impossible. Dependence upon an adequate state provision in the future cannot be relied on and, by implication, may cause you to endure a longer working life or a less prosperous retirement.

There are thus compelling reasons why it makes great sense to plan for retirement at an earlier stage. Abacus can provide a wealth of advice and guidance to help ensure your plans become a reality and not just a dream.

There are many different methods of making provision for a comfortable retirement. More and more people tend to rely on property investments fuelled by the relative explosion in buy to let arrangements around the UK .

Did you know that you can purchase property using your pension funds? There has been some speculation that the government would allow private pension investors to purchase residential property after April 2006 however this has now been amended to restrict investment in property solely to commercial property. There has also been changes proposed to the amount that your pension fund can borrow to assist with property purchase. We would be delighted to discuss your plans with you and advise you on the most suitable method for you to invest in the property market whether or not you plan to use your pension fund to do this.