Have you gathered all the facts about you?

This must start with gathering the facts about your pension entitlements, whether from the State (see bottom of page), personal plans, and old and current employer plans. Start this process as early as you can, as it can be long winded.

You know obvious things like whether you smoke or not, whether you are taking medication, and your general state of health. There may be other areas which you haven’t considered yet, but which will impact on your choices at retirement date. For example:

how long are you likely to live
how long is your spouse likely to live
your target income

Turning to more general matters:

are either of you likely to receive any inheritances during your retirement, and if so approximately how much
do you have other assets which could generate income?
what sort of risk are you taking with these assets?
is it a level of risk that is appropriate for someone who is about to finish their working life?
have you maximised investments into other tax efficient income sources such as ISAs?
have you completed a budget of what your cost of living is likely to be in retirement?

These are all matters we would consider in our “fact finding” with you, if you wish to take advantage of that comprehensive level of service. The full fact find service is thoroughly recommended unless you are absolutely clear as to the type of annuity you wish to purchase, in which case you can opt for our execution-only service. Full details on both options are set out in Our Services.

Useful contact details:

To get a forecast of your State pension you need to complete form BR19. You can print this off the DSS web site (www.thepensionservice.gov.uk), or ring them on 0845 3000 168. To help you track down old employer pension schemes write to the Pension Schemes Registry, PO Box 1NN, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE99 1NN.

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