Category: Investment

Five steps to boost retirement income from your pension pot

7027606047_cac49c3b79_t21Retirement annuities have been much in the news lately.

According to recent reports, many of the estimated 400,000 people per year in the UK who purchase annuities are not aware of the best deals available to them. Only a mere 13 % apparently realised they could possibly do better than their first offer from an insurance provider.This is not a new problem – see link below : the60life.com/enhanced-pension-annuities-in-uk-revealed-the-shocking-truth-that-over-50-still-miss-out-on-extra-income/

Thankfully, there is extensive information out there to help pensioners obtain the best rate of income for their needs in return for their hard saved pension pots. The industry watchdog, the Association of British Insurers,(the ABI), has recently highlighted the disparity between the best and the worst annuity providers by publishing a much acclaimed ‘name and shame’ list. Some rates were up to 46% better than the worst.Retirees can help themselves with possibly the most important financial decision of their lives, and significantly boost their income for life. Four tips to help boost your income from an annuity are:

1. Don’t accept the first quote you receive. This might be from the provider with whom you saved your pension pot,or perhaps a suggestion from an online brokerage. As with most important purchases today ,you need to shop around for the best deal to suit you.You may be considerably better off this way.

2. Be sure to ask for and receive a guaranteed quote from a provider and not merely an indicative one. The latter might be attractive to you but it could be more than the income amount you eventually receive. So avoid this disappointment.

3.Make sure all your personal details have been included when applying for an annuity. Always fully declare the full state of your health which, if poor,could entitle you to an enhanced income. In this case, where a person is not likely to live as long as would normally be expected statistically an insurer will often be prepared to raise the annual income payable under an annuity.

4. On taking appropriate professional advice: don’t pay over the top for advice. Advisers say around 1.5 % of the pension pot is about right, but up to 3%, often without real advice given, is probably not. You can try unbiased.co.uk , the financial adviser website as a place to start your search.

5. Finally, having taken advice, it may be that taking a full annuity does not best meet your needs. Instead you may consider drawing down the whole or part of your pension fund gives you more control over your income and future investment. Note there are some restrictions to this option under regulations which limit the amount you can withdraw in this way. Your adviser can help with this.

Other useful (and unaffiliated) links to go to for information are:

National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF)

Association of British Insurers (ABI)

Citizens Advice Bureaux(CAB)

the60life.com/enhanced-pension-annuities-in-uk-revealed-the-shocking-truth-that-over-50-still-miss-out-on-extra-income/

 

Key Factors in Retirement Planning

From Tax Credits at http://www.flickr.com

 

In retirement planning, always a thorny question to deal with is : what level of  income will I require  in order to maintain my standard of living when I eventually decide to retire? Financial and pensions advisers  call this target income the replacement rate, which is expressed as a percentage  of income received immediately prior to retirement.

So won’t I need at least as much income in retirement as before? You can count yourself fortunate if you can retire without taking a drop in income. But that you can probably keep up your level of spending on consumption with less income has been put down to the following:

  • In retirement most people pay less tax
  • For many the cost of saving for retirement stops
  • Most households look to have no mortgage left to pay for, or not  for long after retirement

At the  RETIRE Project at Georgia State University  required replacement rates have been studied and calculated for decades. As at 2008, the project estimated that households with earnings of more than $50,000 needed about 80 percent of pre-retirement earnings to maintain the same level of consumption. The Boston College finds achieving this level of earnings depends on the following factors:

  • Level of government income support, if any – the higher any supplementary financial support received the lower the retirement income provided by savings needs to be
  • Rate of return on savings– the higher this is, the lower the amount needed to be put away as savings
  • Age when savings begin– the earlier the start,the less is required to be saved by way of regular contributions
  • Age of retirement – the longer this is delayed, the lower the required saving rate needs to be

You can see a summary of the Boston College paper here:  “How important is Asset Allocation to Financial Security in Retirement?”

Adjusting any of these factors can make a great deal of difference to the prospective retiree. Starting to save early, and/or delaying retirement can make a significant difference to the outcomes. When retirement planning appropriate professional advice should be taken.

Why are the over 50s targeted unfairly to pay more for goods and services?

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A number of worrying headlines have appeared in UK daily newspapers recently supporting the often held view that people over the age of 50 are being targeted to receive less favourable treatment than everyone else when it comes to buying goods and services.

Now,according to the Daily Mail, often products aimed at a certain age group, saving accounts for the over 50s for example, do not compare favourably with accounts available to younger people. This age group is often picked-out to receive the worst of the savings deals, and says it found:

‘Overall,… the average interest rate offered by the top 20 financial providers for the over-50s is 2.23 per cent – but it is 3.17 per cent for accounts aimed at all age groups.’

It reported that researchers had looked at all the cash savings accounts available, including instant access accounts, notice accounts and fixed-rate products. Cash Isas were excluded.

This is an outrageous situation, financial experts warned, that older savers are being sold less attractive savings deals than other age groups. For a fuller report you can continue reading at over 50s being offered worst savings deals where you can see details of  several of the  financial giants currently providing an unfavourable offering based on age. It is important for savers to note the terms of the saving contract being offered, and to be particularly  aware of interest rates which hold good only for a short period e.g. 12 months, and then fall back to a very small return henceforward.

 

Act now before the tax year ends to use or lose your ISA allowance

If you haven’t yet taken advantage of your entitlement this tax year (ends 5th April 2011) to a tax free allowance through an Individual Savings Account (ISA) , time is fast running-out.

ISAs are accounts which you hold within a ‘tax wrapper’.This means you do not have to declare any income from them.They are tax free, and you can save cash,or invest in stocks and shares.

There are rules of course. You should seek independent financial advice, but a good start is to go to an official website like for instance direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingMoney/SavingsAndInvestments for guidance.

On the direct.gov site , you will see that you can switch money out of a cash ISA into a stocks and shares ISA without losing the tax-free benefit of the ‘wrapper’. So, if you , like me, have been suffering from the low,almost non-existant, interest returns offered by many banks and building societies who are  providers of financial products for ISAs, this option may be for you. But this is not to say this is right for your particular circumstances and, as I said above ,you need to take appropriate financial advice. Using stocks and shares ,as an alternative investment to increase return on investment ,should perhaps only be considered with the caveat that the value of these go up as well as down. It maybe advisable that you chose this option only if you are investing over a minimum period of (say ) 3 to 5 years. Check-out direct.gov now while there is still some time left. Of course, if you miss out this tax year, the allowance has gone for good. You will, however, be able to consider using the allowance for the new tax year from 6th April ( in 2011/2012)

It’s not too late to think about your financial security

The60LifeWeekly

 

22nd July 2010

  • Is there a writing bug, and do you have it?

 

  • It’s never too late to think of financial security

 

  • Gas and electricity prices: who has the real deal?

 

Hi

This week, I have assumed that, as you clicked through to join the 60life weekly group, and also to obtain my free e-book, that one of our shared interests over time will be writing. Below is a very useful resource I have found for you…

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 Is there a writing bug, and do you have it?

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…Although I do not know your level of interest in, or experience of, writing, my intention in drawing your attention to the link below is to provide a link to an excellent new introductory resource which I hope many looking to take-up writing again, possibly for the very first time, (and an interest in books) will find very useful.

Booktrust  : ” Creative writing can be something very private. From jotting down your thoughts in a diary to composing a love letter, or writing something for the world to see: setting up a blog or even writing your own biography or novel.

All you need is a pen, some paper and a small bit of inspiration…

…Independent reading charity Booktrust [has launched] its first project aimed at engaging over 60s in reading and creative writing. Bookbite,[ launched on 8th February], is designed to “encourage those who rarely or never read books to engage more in reading and writing for pleasure, using the internet to access additional resources where and when possible”.

For some writing tips you should check this out:

http://www.bookbite.org.uk/writing/writingtips  Here you will find case studies, tips, resources, and great encouragement.

In later issues, I shall be looking at writing for both pleasure and profit.

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 It’s never too late to think of financial security

 

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Flexible funds to help weather the current economic storm.

 

At a time when a number of index-linked products have been withdrawn by National Savings and Investment

The Daily Telegraph reports that:

‘Stock markets are unpredictable at the best of times, but the economic turmoil of the past few years has left many fund managers wondering which way to turn…

“In my 20 years as a fund manager I’ve never had to work in such uncertain times,” said Ian Spreadbury, Fidelity’s strategic bond manager. “It isn’t clear whether we are heading into recovery or back into recession, whether this will herald an inflationary period or a prolonged deflationary one, or what will happen to interest rates.”

Cautious investors are hedging their bets by flocking to risk-averse funds that claim to offer flexibility to weather whatever storms lie ahead. Absolute return funds are top of the popularity tables, with cautious managed and strategic bond funds making up the remainder of the top 10.’

 

You can read the full report here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/7898286/Flexible-funds-to-keep-your-portfolio-in-the-pink.html

As promised, I am including Simple Financial Management in Retirement, a special free report prepared for you this week.

This is at  http://www.the60lifeweekly.com/FSIRSI.pdf

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Gas and electricity prices: who has the real deal?

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Now may be a good time to review what you are paying for domestic fuel.You have last winter’s bills by now, and with the lower demand

from customers in the warmer months suppliers may have a better deal for you. In any event, it is a good idea to check out regularly how your current charges compare with others.

This is not always an easy exercise but you could take some help from an independent online energy price comparison service. I can report that over50s.com has teamed up with ukpower.co.uk:

 

Ukpower.co.uk say: We compare gas and electricity suppliers and help people switch to the cheapest deal!

‘We compare the whole market so you won’t find any deal cheaper elsewhere, no other website, doorknocker or energy supplier can beat that!

It’s completely free, the service provided is paid by commission we receive from suppliers when you switch on our website.

We are completely impartial, we list all tariffs from all suppliers, including those suppliers who do not pay us commission. We are accredited by the consumer focus confidence code so you can be sure the website compares all tariffs in a fair and impartial way.

You can save up to £350 by taking just five minutes to switch your energy supplier.

Start your comparison by entering your postcode above, and see how much you can save!’

http://www.ukpower.co.uk

In the next issue, I’ve got for you news and tips about:

  • further developing your creative writing skills
  • a way to fitness at a stretch
  • saving money with a late summer travel offer

 

Look out for your next issue on 29th July.

Yours ,

Mike Paterson,

The 60Life Weekly

 PS: If you have your own stories, tips, or feedback please send them to me at

[email protected]

Disclaimer: It is always my intention to be as accurate in fact,detail and comment as possible. However, I cannot be held responsible for any error in details ,accuracy or judgement whatsoever. This e-letter is produced on this understanding.

Is this the latest UK bank mis-selling scandal?

Loathe as I am to focus once again so soon on elderly people, as a vulnerable class, it seems justified by the latest data received by the Sunday Times from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) which indicates growing evidence of inappropriate investment products being sold by banks to the over-65s.

The Sunday Times reports ‘ that previously unpublished data from the FOS shows that complaints from people over the age of 65 concerned with investment products sold by banks rose by 19% last year, from 1,495 to 1,777. Unit- linked bonds were the most common cause for complaint.’

At the root problem is the practice of paying levels of sales commission which delivers to front office sales staff higher commission than for other services. According to  The Sunday Times  there is a move from a cross-party commission to have such sales commissions banned. The Future of Banking Commission has today published a report setting out a number of banking reforms.

Whilst the report says  that a commission based system may not be responsible for all the complaints receieved, it is considered largely responsible, financial advice being skewed towards the higher commission earning products. Many over-65s are being recommended inappropriate investments for their age and needs. For example, a person aged 78 years should not be persuaded to put cash into long term bonds linked to equities on the  stock market. For him, or her, short term capital losses may not be recovered if the investment needs ‘to be cashed-in’ for unexpected outgoings. The message seems to be clear. Do not be so persuaded if you need,or may need, your money to hand for other purposes than investment, such as your own care, or maintenance. If in doubt,and in these times of low return on bank deposit money,you might consider an independent financial advisor who is not paid any commission, and who is prepared to advise you on the best place for you to put your money given your particular circumstances.

If you have been subject to what you feel is mis-selling of financial products, the Sunday Times would be pleased to hear from you at

[email protected]