Your pension is important. Every penny you invest now adds up to create the income you’ll live on in retirement, and the more you invest, the more you’ll have to live on. It all seems very simple doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, that’s not all there is to good pension planning.
If you’re looking for ways to get the most out of your pension, you should regularly review your scheme throughout your working life. Changes you make now, even if retirement seems like it’s a million years away, can positively affect what you achieve in the future. That’s why you should review your pension regularly to assess your options.
How to review your pension
If you’re financially minded and have a lot of time on your hands, you might choose to conduct a pension review yourself. This involves analysing your investments and forecasting how much your investments will achieve in the future. You should also compare the performance of your pension to other available schemes, taking the time to check whether yours is the most lucrative scheme.
Additionally, make sure you check charges and fees associated with your scheme – could you be paying less elsewhere?
Individuals early on in their careers might choose a riskier investment in the hope that they’ll boost their return in later life. But the closer you get to retirement, the more cautious you’ll wish to be, perhaps investing in safer schemes with a lower return to protect your lifetime of savings.
Choosing a professional
If you have constraints on time or are not a pensions expert, you might choose instead to go with a pension review professional. In order to ensure the advice you receive is quality, law-abiding information, make sure you choose an FSA-regulated individual or company to look into your finances. It is also vital that you choose an obligation-free review or you might find yourself committed to a scheme. If cost is an obstacle, take a look at the pension review market, you’ll find services which offer free advice available.