If you have a reasonably large pension fund or are expecting a pension from your employer of more than £ 25,000 per annum then you really need to listen up…
In his Autumn Statement the Chancellor announced plans to reduce the lifetime allowance from £1.25 million to £1.00 million. If you take the appropriate action later in the year you can keep your £1.25 million allowance. If not it falls to £1.00 million on 06/04/2016.
Why should you care? Because if you don’t get it right any amount over £ 1.00 million will be taxed at 55%. You could feel very stupid if you have worked hard to save and finish up with a preventable tax bill of 55%.
So here are the 5 mistakes you need to avoid if you don’t want that 55% tax bill.
1) Not taking this seriously. There is little you can do today, other than registering your interest with me, but if you do not continue to pay attention next April could arrive and by then it will be too late to take avoiding action.
2) Continuing to make pension contributions after 06/04/2016. That will cause you to lose your protection.
3) Your employer will automatically enrol you in a pension scheme every three years. If you don’t opt out within 1 month you will have lost your protection forever.
4 ) You may be getting tax relief on a life insurance plan. If so you need to stop that plan by 05/04/2016.
5) If you change jobs and as part of your contract your employer puts you into a pension scheme you will lose your protection from day 1 if it is not an automatic enrolment scheme.
There are other less obvious mistakes to avoid.
So what can you do about this? If your adviser is already talking to you about this well done – you are in good hands.
If not just register for a free telephone review by using the box on the right or if you are really impatient pick up the phone to me now on 07770 575122. It will not take more than a few minutes to discover whether you are ok or if you need to take this seriously.
If you do nothing else pop your details in the box below to get blog updates. Who knows? The next one may address the one pension/investment issue which is troubling you.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
This document and our on going services are not personal advice. We'll give you all the help and guidance you need to make your investment and retirement decisions, but we can't advise you. If you're not sure whether you need regulated financial advice we can put you in touch with a suitably qualified and experienced regulated adviser. Because we are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority you will not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service in respect of any complaints. If you use one of the "no advice" on line services to handle investment transactions they will be Regulated and you will have access to the Ombudsman and The Financial Compensation Scheme in respect of their services. The value of investments/pension plans can fall or rise depending on market performance. The Retirement Team and The Investment and Retirement Coach are trading names of Capture Success Ltd Reg No 01825075 Tel 07770575122
