Turn your pensions into a clearer plan for the future.

Your pension may be one of your most important long-term assets, but knowing whether you are saving enough, using the right arrangements or making the right retirement choices can feel difficult. Habitual Wealth provides personal pension advice to people in Cardiff and across South Wales. We take the time to understand the retirement you want, review the arrangements you already have and help you make informed decisions about what happens next.

Building towards retirement

When retirement is still some distance away, the focus is often on whether you are saving enough and whether your pension investments remain aligned with your:

• timeframe
• objectives and
• attitude to risk.

Advice may help you consider:

• regular contributions
• one-off contributions
• employer payments
• available allowances and
• how pension saving fits with other priorities.

Approaching retirement

The years before retirement often involve the greatest number of decisions. You may need to understand:

• what income your pensions could provide
• whether your plans are affordable
• whether pension drawdown may be suitable
• whether an annuity may be appropriate
• whether to take lump sums and
• when different benefits should be taken.

Living in retirement

Retirement planning continues after work stops.

Your:

• income needs
• spending
• investment position and
• family priorities may change.

While inflation and market movements can affect how long your wealth may last. Regular reviews can help you understand whether your income remains sustainable and whether your arrangements still reflect the life you want to lead.

Build a retirement plan around your life

A pension decision should not be made in isolation. The right approach may depend on your wider assets, expected expenditure, family responsibilities, tax position and how much flexibility or certainty you want.

We can help you consider your pensions alongside:

• cash savings and emergency reserves
• ISAs and other investments
• expected State Pension income
• property and business interests
• employment or consultancy income
• financial support for children or grandchildren
• protection needs and
• your estate and legacy objectives.

Bringing these elements together can give you a clearer view of what is possible, where the risks lie and which decisions may need attention first.

Connect company pension decisions with your personal future

For a business owner or company director, pension planning can be closely connected to decisions made through the company.

Depending on your circumstances, advice may include considering:

• employer pension contributions
• your existing remuneration arrangements
• the wealth you hold inside and outside the business 
• personal investments and pensions
• the wealth you hold outside the business and
• the extent to which a future sale forms part of your retirement plan.

The objective is to avoid treating your pension, personal investments and business as separate plans. We help you consider how they may work together, while coordinating with your accountant or tax adviser where specialist tax input is required.

Find out more: Financial planning for business owners | Financial advice for company directors

Understand how each arrangement fits into the wider plan

If you have changed jobs or built up several pensions, it can be difficult to see how the different arrangements fit together. A review can help you understand what you hold, how each pension works and whether your current arrangements remain suitable for your objectives. When reviewing several pensions, an adviser may consider matters such as:

• charges and ongoing costs
• investment choice and management
• valuable guarantees or protected benefits
• early-access charges or restrictions
• retirement income options
• death benefits and beneficiary choices
• the service and support you require and
• how each arrangement contributes to your wider retirement plan.

Defined benefit and other safeguarded pension benefits require specialist consideration. The FCA states that, for most people, keeping safeguarded benefits is likely to be in their best interests. We will establish whether your enquiry falls within the scope of the advice we can provide and explain the appropriate next step.

Understand the difference before making a decision

Pension guidance and pension advice can both be useful, but they serve different purposes.

Pension guidance

Guidance provides general information about pension rules and the options that may be available.

MoneyHelper provides free pensions guidance, including Pension Wise appointments for eligible people with defined contribution pensions. Guidance can help you understand your options, but it does not assess your full circumstances or tell you which course of action is personally suitable.

Regulated pension advice

Regulated advice considers your:

• objectives
• financial position
• existing arrangements
• attitude to risk and
• capacity for loss 

before making a personal recommendation.

This may be particularly valuable where you:

• have several pensions
• have significant retirement savings
• own a business
• have complex tax considerations or
• important decisions about how to take an income.

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