Making the most of your pension savings
Thanks to there being no major changes announced to pensions in the October 2018 Budget you can continue to pay into your pension over the next 12 months without any surprises to knock you off track.
This does, however, present a great time for you to review your pension savings. Are you confident you’re saving enough to support the lifestyle you want in retirement? Put simply, a pension is a long-term savings plan which grows over time and provides you with an income to see you through your retirement. There are many benefits to paying into a pension plan:
Tax relief
Did you know that if you’re saving towards a pension between the ages of 18 and 75, you can receive significant contributions from the government on top of the amount you save?
This is because you receive tax relief on the contributions you are paying in: 20% for basic-rate taxpayers, 40% for higher-rate taxpayers and 45% for additional-rate taxpayers.
As an example, for a basic-rate taxpayer, for every £100 you pay into your pension, the government will top it up by £25 giving you a total contribution of £125. You can get even more if you’re a higher-rate or additional-rate taxpayer.
A top up on your salary
If your employer has a pension plan set up as an employee benefit, they will also pay contributions to your pension plan (up to a certain level). Think of it as a top-up on your salary.
Compound interest
When you save money into your pension you’ll hopefully make a return on the investment, subject to performance of course. The following year you'll hopefully get a return, not only on your initial investment but also on the return from the previous year, and so on. You’re effectively earning money on previous gains which are all added into your pension pot.
If you want to discuss your pension planning in more detail then speak to us and we’ll make a recommendation based on your individual circumstances.
There are rules regarding how much you can contribute to a pension and how much the government will add to your contributions through tax relief. The value of investments and any income from them can go down as well as up and you may not get back the original amount invested.
HM Revenue and Customs practice and the law relating to taxation are complex and subject to individual circumstances and changes which cannot be foreseen.
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