Clear, independent advice to help you understand your pensions, plan for retirement, and make confident decisions about your future. 

Important Information

A pension is a long-term investment the fund value may fluctuate and can go down. Your eventual income may depend upon the size of the fund at retirement, future interest rates and tax legislation.

Step 1 – Initial Consultation
We begin with a conversation to understand your current position, your goals, and what you want your future to look like. There is no cost for this stage and no obligation to proceed.

Step 2 – Analysis & Advice 
We take the time to fully understand your existing arrangements, including pensions, investments, and your wider financial position. We use cashflow modelling to build a clear picture of your financial future.

Step 3 – Recommendations & Implementation
We provide structured, independent recommendations aligned to your objectives. Everything is explained clearly, including any associated costs, and no action is taken until you are comfortable. If you decide to proceed, we manage the implementation on your behalf.

Step 4 – Ongoing Advice (Optional)
Financial planning is not a one-off event. Ongoing advice is optional, but recommended to ensure your plan remains aligned as your circumstances, markets, and legislation change over time.

Most people build up pensions over many years without ever really stepping back to look at the bigger picture.

You might have an old workplace pension from a previous employer, a personal pension you haven’t reviewed for years, a current workplace scheme receiving regular contributions, or several different pension pots with different providers.

You may know roughly what they are worth, but perhaps not whether they are invested appropriately, what you are paying in charges, how they have performed, or—most importantly—whether they are likely to provide the retirement you actually want.

That is where retirement planning comes in.

We provide independent pension and retirement planning advice, helping you understand what you already have, what you may need in the future, and how to build a clear plan for getting there.

A pension is a tax-efficient way of saving and investing money for later life.

Retirement planning is about answering the bigger questions.

When could you realistically afford to retire?

How much income might you need?

Where will that income come from?

Should you continue contributing to your pension, increase contributions, or use other savings and investments alongside it?

And once you reach retirement, how should you take your money without unnecessarily increasing tax or risking running out later?

Your retirement plan may involve much more than your pensions. We can consider your:

• Personal and workplace pensions
• ISAs and other investments
• Cash savings
• State Pension
• Property
• Business assets
• Other sources of income

By looking at everything together, we can build a much clearer picture of your financial future.

How We Can Help With Your Pensions

Different people come to us at very different stages of life.

You don't need to know exactly what type of pension advice you need before speaking to us. That is something we can establish together.

Here are some of the most common situations we help with.

“I’ve got several old pensions and don’t really know what I have.”

This is extremely common.

You may have accumulated pensions from several employers and providers over the years.

We can help you establish what you have, understand how each pension works and review areas such as investments, charges, features and benefits.

We can then consider whether keeping the pensions where they are or bringing some of them together would be more appropriate.

Consolidation isn't automatically the right answer. Some pensions contain valuable benefits, guarantees or favourable terms which could potentially be lost by transferring.

That is why we review before recommending.

“Should I combine my pensions?”

Possibly—but only if there is a good reason to.

Having your pensions together can make retirement planning considerably easier and may give you a clearer view of your overall investments.

In some circumstances it can also reduce charges or provide access to a more suitable range of investments and retirement options.

But transferring purely for convenience isn't always sensible.

Before recommending consolidation, we consider the costs, investments, available retirement options and any valuable benefits or guarantees that could be lost.

Sometimes the best advice is to consolidate.

Sometimes it is to leave a pension exactly where it is.

“I haven't reviewed my pension for years.”

A pension shouldn't necessarily be changed simply because it is old.

But it should be understood.

We can review your existing pension to establish:

• What you are invested in
• How much risk you are taking
• What charges you are paying
• How the investments have performed
• Whether the pension still suits your objectives
• What retirement options it provides
• Whether there are important guarantees or benefits attached to it

If your existing pension remains suitable, keeping it may be entirely appropriate.

If there is a genuine reason to make changes, we can explain why and recommend an appropriate course of action.

“Am I paying too much in pension charges?”

Pension charges vary considerably.

There may be platform or product charges, investment fund charges and, where applicable, charges for ongoing financial advice or investment management.

The cheapest pension isn't necessarily the best pension, but you should understand what you are paying and what you are receiving in return.

As part of our analysis, we can compare the costs of your existing arrangements with any alternative being considered.

“Are my pensions invested properly?”

Your pension isn't simply a savings account. In most cases, the money within it is invested.

Where it is invested can have a significant impact on the eventual value of your retirement fund.

We assess whether your current investments remain appropriate for your:

• Attitude to investment risk
• Capacity for loss
• Investment timeframe
• Retirement plans
• Wider financial circumstances

Someone with 25 years until retirement may have very different requirements from someone planning to start drawing an income next year.

Your investment strategy should reflect that.

Building Your Pension

Pension planning isn't only about reviewing money you've already accumulated.

For many clients, one of the biggest questions is simply:

“How much should I be paying into my pension?”

There isn't one percentage or contribution level that works for everyone.

We can look at what you have already accumulated, how much you are currently contributing and what you would ideally like retirement to look like.

From there, we can model whether you appear to be on track.

If there is a shortfall, we can look at what might happen if you increase contributions, retire later, change your retirement income target or make other adjustments.

The important thing is giving your contributions a purpose rather than simply paying money into a pension without knowing whether it is enough.

Company Directors and Employer Pension Contributions

If you own a limited company, pension contributions can form an important part of your wider financial planning.

Rather than making all contributions personally, your company may be able to make employer contributions directly into your pension.

Depending on your circumstances, this can be a tax-efficient way of extracting profits from a business and building retirement wealth.

We can help you consider:

• Personal versus employer pension contributions
• Regular company contributions
• One-off lump-sum contributions
• Pension annual allowances
• Carry forward of unused annual allowance where available
• How pension funding fits alongside salary and dividends
• Building a retirement strategy around your business

Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and tax rules can change, so pension funding should be considered alongside appropriate tax advice where necessary.

Self-Employed Pension Planning

If you're self-employed, there may be no employer automatically building a pension for you.

That makes having your own retirement strategy particularly important.

We can help establish an appropriate pension, review existing arrangements and work out a realistic level of contribution based around your income, affordability and retirement objectives.

Contributions don't necessarily need to remain the same every year. For people with fluctuating income, we can build a more flexible approach.

How Much Do I Need to Retire?

This is one of the biggest questions we are asked.

Unfortunately, there isn't a magic pension figure that applies to everyone.

Someone who wants a relatively simple retirement with their mortgage repaid will need something very different from somebody planning regular overseas travel, expensive hobbies or significant financial support for their family.

So instead of starting with the pension, we start with you.

What would you like retirement to look like?

When would you ideally stop working?

How much might you need each month?

What major expenses might occur?

Will your mortgage be repaid?

What other income and assets will you have?

Once we understand this, we can use cashflow modelling to bring everything together.

We can model your pensions, savings and investments alongside future contributions, inflation, State Pension and your expected expenditure.

This allows us to explore questions such as:

Could I retire at 60 rather than 67?

What happens if I increase my pension contributions by £500 a month?

Could I afford to reduce my working hours before fully retiring?

How much could I sustainably spend in retirement?

What happens if investment returns are lower than expected?

Instead of retirement being an abstract goal somewhere in the future, you begin to see what your financial position could actually look like.

Approaching Retirement

The final five to ten years before retirement can be particularly important.

At this stage, the focus gradually begins to change.

It isn't only about accumulating as much as possible anymore. We also need to start thinking about how those assets will eventually provide an income.

We can help you plan the transition.

This might include reviewing your existing investments, increasing pension contributions, using available allowances, understanding your State Pension entitlement, considering outstanding mortgages or debts and deciding when you may realistically be able to reduce or stop work.

For some people, retirement isn't one single date.

You might reduce to three days a week, start taking some pension income and then fully retire several years later.

Your financial plan can reflect this.

Taking Money From Your Pension

Modern pensions can offer considerable flexibility, but more choice also means more decisions.

Depending on your pension and circumstances, retirement options can include:

Tax-Free Cash

You may be able to take part of your pension benefits tax-free, subject to the rules and allowances applying at the time.

But simply taking the maximum available because you can isn't necessarily the best strategy.

We can help you consider what the money is actually needed for and the effect taking it could have on your future retirement income.

Pension Drawdown

Drawdown allows your pension to remain invested while you take an income from it.

This can provide considerable flexibility.

You might take a regular monthly income, occasional withdrawals or vary the amount depending on your circumstances.

However, because the remaining money stays invested, investment performance and the level of withdrawals both matter.

We can help structure a sustainable withdrawal strategy and review it with you over time.

Annuities

An annuity exchanges some or all of a pension fund for a guaranteed income.

Although drawdown has become increasingly popular, annuities can still be extremely useful in the right circumstances.

They can provide certainty and remove some of the investment and longevity risk associated with drawing money directly from an invested pension.

It doesn't necessarily have to be an either/or decision.

For some people, a combination of secure income and flexible drawdown may be appropriate.

Tax-Efficient Retirement Income

A pension withdrawal isn't automatically tax-free.

Apart from any available tax-free element, pension income will generally be subject to income tax.

That means how you take retirement income can be just as important as how much you take.

For example, your retirement income could eventually come from a combination of:

• Pension withdrawals
• State Pension
• ISAs
• Cash
• Other investments
• Rental income
• Part-time earnings

Rather than automatically taking everything from one place, we can consider how these different assets might work together.

Good retirement planning isn't simply about creating an income.

It is about creating that income as sustainably and tax-efficiently as reasonably possible.

Already Retired?

Retirement planning doesn't stop when you retire.

If you are already taking pension benefits, we can review whether your current strategy remains appropriate.

This can include looking at:

• Your current level of withdrawals
• Investment performance
• Investment risk
• Sustainability of income
• Cash reserves
• Tax efficiency
• Whether your circumstances have changed
• Whether your pension is likely to continue supporting your required lifestyle

Regular reviews can be particularly important when using pension drawdown because both markets and your circumstances will change over time.

Planning for Your Family

Pensions can also play an important role in wider estate and legacy planning.

The rules surrounding pensions on death and their tax treatment can be complex and can change over time.

As part of your wider financial plan, we can consider your pension beneficiary nominations and how your pension arrangements fit alongside your Will, other investments and wider estate planning.

Where specialist legal or tax advice is required, we can work alongside your solicitor or accountant.

Independent Pension Advice

We provide independent financial advice.

That means we are able to consider solutions from across the market rather than being restricted to the products or investment funds of one provider.

But being independent doesn't mean we automatically recommend moving your pension.

Our starting point is always understanding what you already have.

If your existing pension remains suitable, competitive and appropriate for your objectives, leaving it where it is may be the right recommendation.

Where we believe improvements can be made, we'll explain what we recommend, why we recommend it, the costs involved and the advantages and disadvantages before you make a decision.

What Does a Pension Review Actually Involve?

Depending on your circumstances, we can:

1. Understand where you are now

We gather information about your pensions, savings, investments, income, expenditure and wider financial position.

2. Understand where you want to go

We discuss your retirement age, lifestyle, income requirements and the things that matter to you.

3. Review your existing pensions

We analyse your current providers, investments, charges, benefits and available retirement options.

4. Assess investment risk

We establish an appropriate level of investment risk based on your attitude to risk, capacity for loss, timeframe and objectives.

5. Model your retirement

Where appropriate, cashflow modelling can help illustrate whether your existing assets and contributions appear capable of supporting your plans.

6. Make recommendations

If changes are appropriate, we explain our recommendations clearly, including the costs and risks involved.

7. Keep your plan under review

Retirement planning isn't a one-off exercise. Your investments, legislation, markets, income and personal circumstances can all change.

Ongoing reviews help keep your strategy aligned with your objectives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you find my old pensions?

If you have lost track of pensions from previous employment, we can help you understand the information you need to obtain and then review those arrangements once details are available.

Should I transfer all my pensions into one?

Not necessarily. Consolidation can make pensions easier to manage and may sometimes reduce costs or improve investment and retirement options, but existing pensions can contain valuable benefits. Each pension should be assessed before transferring.

Can you review my pension without moving it?

Yes. A review doesn't automatically mean a transfer. If your existing pension remains appropriate, our advice may be to leave it where it is.

Can I transfer my workplace pension?

Potentially, depending on the type of scheme and its rules. If you are still an active member, particular care may be needed because transferring could affect future employer contributions or other benefits.

What about final salary pensions?

Defined benefit or final salary pensions are very different from standard defined contribution pensions and transferring them involves significant risks and additional regulatory requirements. Where specialist advice is required, we will explain this and whether we are able to assist or need to refer you to an appropriate specialist.

Can my limited company pay into my pension?

Yes, companies can make employer pension contributions for directors and employees, subject to the relevant rules. Whether this is appropriate and the tax treatment will depend on your individual and company circumstances.

Can I make a large one-off pension contribution?

Potentially. The amount that can be contributed tax-efficiently depends on factors including your earnings, previous contributions and the pension annual allowance rules. In some circumstances unused annual allowance from previous tax years may be available through carry forward.

Can I still contribute if I'm close to retirement?

Potentially, yes. Being close to retirement doesn't automatically mean pension contributions should stop. Whether further contributions make sense depends on your tax position, allowances, objectives and when you expect to need the money.

When can I access my pension?

For most people, the normal minimum pension age is currently 55 and is scheduled to increase to 57 from 6 April 2028. Some pensions and individuals may have different or protected retirement ages.

Do I have to take my pension when I retire?

No. Stopping work and accessing a pension don't necessarily need to happen at the same time. Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to leave your pension invested until you actually require it.

Do I have to take all of my tax-free cash at once?

Not necessarily. Depending on the pension arrangement, benefits may be taken in stages. The most appropriate approach depends on your circumstances and objectives.

Do I have to buy an annuity?

No. Depending on your pension, you may have several retirement options, including drawdown, lump-sum withdrawals and annuity purchase.

How much can I safely withdraw from my pension?

There isn't a single withdrawal rate that is safe for everyone.

It depends on the size of your pension, age, other income, investment strategy, expected expenditure and how long the money may need to last.

This is one of the areas where cashflow modelling and ongoing retirement reviews can be particularly valuable.

What happens to my pension when I die?

This depends on the type of pension, how benefits have been taken, who receives them and the tax and pension rules applying at the time.

Keeping beneficiary nominations up to date and considering pensions as part of your wider estate planning is important.

Is pension advice only for people close to retirement?

No.

In fact, some of the most valuable retirement planning can happen many years before retirement because you have more time to make adjustments.

Whether you're 35 and building your first meaningful pension pot, 55 and wondering whether you can retire at 60, or already retired and drawing an income, there can be value in having a clear plan.

Start With a Conversation

You don't need to arrive with all your pension paperwork organised or already know what you want to do.

You might simply be thinking:

“I've got a few pensions and I'm not really sure what to do with them.”

“I want to know whether I can afford to retire.”

“I own a business and want to put more into my pension.”

“I'm approaching retirement and don't know how I should take my pension.”

“I'm already retired and want to know whether my money is going to last.”

Those are exactly the conversations retirement planning is designed for.

We can start by understanding where you are now, what you would like the future to look like and whether there are any gaps between the two.

From there, we can help you build a clear and structured retirement plan.

The value of investments and pensions can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may be subject to change.