You shouldn’t just rely on the basic state pension

Currently £95.25 a week for a single person and only £152.30 a week for a married couple (In both cases, provided you meet minimum contributory criteria. *

Pension Simplification (or "A Day" as it is more commonly called) arrived at the beginning of financial year 06/07. On 5 April 2006 the rules governing how much you can contribute and what kind of investments are allowed for your pension have changed.

Did you adapt your own plans to reflect these changes? Call us for tailor made, professional advice.

Stakeholder Pensions were introduced during 2001 to give everyone the opportunity to provide for their retirement. The Government has laid down minimum standards to ensure that all Stakeholder Pensions meet the same basic criteria for payments, costs and terms.

Flexible payments - start and stop pension payments without penalty, together with the ability to increase or decrease contributions at any time.

Minimum monthly contributions from as little as £10 per month up to a maximum of £300 per month, (providing your income is less than £30,000 per annum).

Tax relief on payments, which means that for every £1 that you invest into your pension, you only need to contribute 80p - the tax man makes up the difference in tax relief. If you're a higher rate tax payer, you can claim even more tax relief (currently up to another 20p) via your tax return.

The above is based on our understanding as at April 2009 of current taxation, legislation and Inland Revenue practice, all of which are liable to change. The impact of taxation and any tax relief’s depend on individual circumstances, (based on rates in 2009/2010).

The funds into which pension payments are invested are free of UK taxes on investment income and capital gains. You can also take a maximum of up to 25% of your fund as a tax-free lump sum at retirement. When you take your pension this will be taxed as earned income.

* Source The Pension Service, correct at April 2009
In most cases, Pension Credits could guarantee minimum incomes for the over 60s of £130.00 pw (single) and £198.45 pw (couple), these have to be applied for seperately.

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We are pleased to announce a new interactive facility to allow you to produce your own illustrations on line. Please use the facility but do not hesitate to contact us for personal service.

Click here for an online Illustration of your Pension plan.