RETIREMENT PLANNING IS IDENTIFYING
WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE AFTER WORKING IN DENTISTRY
- Your objectives
- The age at which you would like to take retirement
- How much you can contribute in order to build retirement provision
- The annual allowance and lifetime allowance
- Attitude to risk
- Tax implications
It is important to regularly review your retirement planning to ensure you remain on course. At DFA we will look at your retirement plan every year in conjunction with the rest of your financial review. It’s very important that retirement planning is integrated into your financial planning.
The earlier you begin saving for retirement the greater chance you have of building a retirement portfolio to help you achieve your desired lifestyle in later life .
NHS PENSIONS
The NHS superannuation is a form of defined benefit pension where the amount you retire on is based on your earnings.
We have an intricate and detailed working knowledge of the NHS pension whether you are still an active member contributing to the scheme or have since left and become a deferred member. Some of the valuable information we can provide includes:
- Projecting and estimating your NHS benefits in retirement
- Closely analysing and monitoring your position with respect to both the lifetime allowance and annual allowance
- Looking at the impact added years’ contracts will have on your NHS pension
- Comparisons between the NHS pension and other types of pension
- Cost effectiveness of the contributions you make
- Advice on buying additional NHS pension benefits
PERSONAL PENSIONS
A personal pension is the simplest and most well known type of pension.
By making contributions your pension fund will build over time coupled with investment returns and tax relief. Pensions are a very tax efficient way of saving for retirement. Most people can claim basic rate tax relief on pension contributions and for higher and additional rate tax payers the relief can be more.
We will recommend the most suitable pension provider for your needs and make a selection where to invest from the range of investment funds available. We’ll ensure that the funds selected meet your appetite to risk for this particular type of investment.
SELF-INVESTED PERSONAL PENSIONS
The self-invested personal pension (SIPP) is a pension that can hold a greater range of investments in comparison to a stakeholder or personal pension.
It has the same tax advantages as other pensions as well as the ability to borrow further funds against the assets held in the SIPP. SIPPs are a form of personal pension and give much more flexibility in the avaialble selection of investments.
A number of our clients who own their own dental practice operate SIPPs in which the practice is owned by the SIPP. This can be advantageous in a number of ways as the rental income is not a pension contribution, but a return on the property investment. SIPPs are extremely useful for tax and retirement planning.
A typical range of investments in a SIPP could include the following:
- UK and Overseas stocks and shares
- Unlisted shares
- Unit trusts
- Investment trusts
- Open ended investment companies
- Insurance company funds
- Deposit accounts
- Gilts and securities
- Investment trusts
- Commercial property
STAKEHOLDER PENSIONS
Stakeholder pensions are another form of defined contribution personal pensions. They are required to have certain features, such as:
- limited charges;
- low and flexible minimum contributions;
- penalty-free transfers;
- a default investment fund – a fund your money will be invested in if you don’t wish to select your own.
CASHFLOW AND TAX PLANNING
When you reach retirement age and you look to take an income we can help you plan when and how you to take income. The new pension flexibilities introduced in April 2015 have made retirement planning much more flexible than before and we will make you aware of all your options given your objectives.
Analysing your investments, pensions, possible rental income and any other forms of income we produce an in depth but easy to understand cashflow analysis. This cashflow modelling will show you your retirement picture against a base level we will also build in scenario testing for different market conditions. This will show how your current income plan is affected by these market changes.
We will always look at the most tax efficient way to optimise your various sources of income. We will also take in to account legacy and estate planning for your spouse/partner and dependants for the future.