Category: Life Stories and Insights

While starting retirement may seem a time to be cautious about splashing out, there are some big outlays that may make sense and save you money later on. Conversely, you may want to set money aside in earlier retirement to help you cope with spending later on, particularly inflation and possible care costs. Many people…

‘Private pensions’ means any pension schemes you have apart from a State Pension. They may be schemes you join through your workplace, or schemes that you arrange for yourself. How much you can save Private pension schemes are one of the most tax-efficient ways to save, because you get tax relief on the money you…

There are basically four ways to give your retirement finances a boost: your home, work, investments and state benefits (and other state support). Your home Three-quarters of people aged 65 and over own their home outright, and a further 3 per cent are homeowners with a mortgage, according to the government’s Family Resources Survey. Your…

First, let’s consider the State Pension, which is by and large fully protected against inflation. The earliest you can claim it is at State Pension age. You do not have to stop work to claim your State Pension. Since November 2018, women and men have had the same State Pension age, which has been increasing….

Most people now covered by the new State Pension will have built up some pension under the old state scheme. To ensure they did not lose out under the switch to the new system, there are transitional rules. Broadly, they work as follows. On 6 April 2016, two calculations were made: first, the pension you…

All state pensions are increased once a year, in April: Price inflation is measured as the annual change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) up to the previous September and earnings inflation is the annual increase in average earnings over the previous May to July. The time lag between measuring the increases and paying the…

Divorce or separation typically means that you shift from living in a shared household to living alone, and may become newly eligible to claim state benefits if your income is low – see Chapter 2. These life events can have a big impact on your financial situation. Pension savings and pensions built up by you…

Pension schemes you arrange for yourself are always defined-contribution pensions, so all of the information in the last four sections applies (except there are usually no employer contributions). Anyone can have a pension scheme, and anyone else can pay into it for you – for example, if you’re caring for children or doing other unpaid…