We met Tim in his early fifties, who wanted to retire early but had no concept as to how this might happen. We completed an initial, in depth analysis of Tim’s existing pension provision, including a range of company and private pension schemes built up over various employments and personal provision. After understanding the detail of what provision was possible under each pension scheme, we put together a range of different scenarios to give a clear indication of what Tim’s options were, including the repayment of a small mortgage and the risks associated with each option. This was only possible once a full understanding of Tim’s financial and personal circumstances were understood.
Ultimately a pension transfer of one defined benefit scheme was recommended with others to be retained with the private pensions amalgamated into flexi-access drawdown via a Self Invested Pension Plan. This has given the right mix of flexibility in terms of access to a variable income and security in terms of index linked company pension schemes that enabled Tim to retire age 58.
We continue to advise Tim in terms of exiting business interests and how the tax implications of realising money from these sources can dovetail with his pension and family personal circumstances. As we have built in sufficient flexibility to Tim’s retirement planning we are able to continue to mange Tim’s and his families tax liabilities and financial security into the future. The process is ongoing with annuity rate, investment and legislative/tax changes reviewed regularly to ensure all opportunities are considered as Tim and his family moves through retirement.
Part of the process was to understand Tim’s underlying objectives and to ensure that any trade offs between less security now against more security later were understood to enable Tim to make the decision as to the exact timing of his retirement.