Personal Pensions

A personal pension is any pension that may be arranged by an individual as opposed to his or her employer. They come in various forms, which are explained in the following pages:

  • Stakeholder Pensions

  • SIPPs (Self Invested Pension Plans)

They are defined contribution schemes: that is to say, the pension you ultimately draw depends on what you pay in and the investment performance and how you want your income and tax free cash. At retirement, you have a choice of options to provide you with a retirement income. Since what you choose may greatly affect your income in retirement, you should take independent professional advice from Wexdon, before retiring.

Personal pensions come in 2 categories: first, Unit Linked; secondly, With Profits.

In a Unit Linked Pension, you buy units in funds within the pension wrapper. This gives you a direct link to the investment returns of the units you buy. The funds selected can be of varying risk. The aim of taking this risk is that your retirement income will increase over time as the investment performance does well. If the performance is poor, your potential retirement income goes down. Some of Wexdon’s most valuable expertise is our skill in identifying your tolerance of risk and advising on the right Funds to meet your goals.

A With Profits basis depends on the Insurance Company’s With Profits Fund. Insurance Companies’ With Profits Funds have received a bad press in recent years. But we always consider if they are right for you, as companies offer different features in their With Profits products. The unique plan we produce for you may be a mix, which aims to give you some benefits of good investment performance until your retirement.

The good news is that you get tax relief on the amount you put in, up to your annual allowance. This allows your savings to grow gross rather than suffer the tax charge.

The Independent Financial Advisors we recommend offer an initial appointment is free of charge – no matter how long it takes. The our recommended IFAs are happy to meet at your home or office in London or Hertfordshire. They may visit your home or office in another part of the UK. If you are further away, or you prefer, we offer meetings by SKYPE video-conferencing. You have the added confidence that a former Independent Financial Advisor is recommending the best people in the profession he as met. Taking a little bit of time now can improve your standard of living in retirement quite substantially. Call us now to book an appointment to start the process. It is your first step to a better retirement.

The value of a unit linked investment is not guaranteed on encashment and you may not get back the full amount invested