Sisters are doin’ it for themselves

Whether you are Annie or Aretha it is safe to say that you are taking the pretty serious role of retirement planning by storm, much in the same way as Lennox and Franklin did for music. Women are not only playing a major role in the workplace and paying their way but they are also…

Sex equality may not be all it is cracked up to be!

There are major changes afoot that will affect pensions for those coming up to retirement from the end of the year. The Gender Directive is set to land on 21st December 2012 and this will mean that annuities can no longer be offered on a single gender basis. Potentially men will suffer most as providers…

Ski instructors need to plan their pensions too

Once the Easter holidays are over this marks the end of the year’s ski season meaning ski and snowboard schools will begin to wind down. The British contingent of ski instructors and stagiaires, high altitude guides and off-piste experts will be planning to leave the slopes in readiness for the summer.   Winter work means…

Small pots with nowhere to go?

Converting your hard earned pensions savings in to an annuity at retirement is anything but simple. Get it wrong and it could cost you thousands of pounds throughout your retirement, and so taking expert advice at the point of no return is a priority. Accessing advice where you only have a small pot is another matter. Some advisers are…

Improving transfers and growing big fat pension pots

Transferring a company pension from an ex-employer to a new arrangement has never been the easiest of tasks. Normally the pension provider, on behalf of the company, issues a ‘leaver pack’ written in pensions technical ‘jargon’ that more often than not is filed away until retirement. It is no wonder workers have built up a string…

Planning to down tools now?

Retirement is often considered the holiday of a lifetime or the chance to rest and rewind after a busy career. The State provides only a meagre pension and so the pension plans and company schemes you have been paying in to for many years should provide for the little extras when you retire. If you…

Once a Frozen Pension always a Frozen Pension

In the distant past, when a member left a final salary or career average scheme, the pension earned was frozen. This meant the pension was left to wither on the vine rather than enjoy the returns on the money invested. Anyone with an ounce of sense would expect the right to a stream of deferred pay to at…