Pre-Budget Report – 9th December 2009

Pre-Budget report from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, is due on Wednesday 9th December 2009…..click above for more information

Change in Personal Pension Retirement Age – Act NOW!

Personal pension minimum retirement age is changing from 50 to 55 on 6th April 2010. If you’re aged 50-54 now and wish to take benefits before age 55 you may need to act before 5th April…..click above for more information

Top 10 Personal Finance Articles – September 2009

Here is our usual monthly list of the top 10 read articles on shrewdcookie.com in September – there are some surprising entries!

Personal Pension? – Minimum Retirement age 55 from 6th April 2010!

Did you know that, if you’re lucky enough to be in the position, you can at present take your personal pension benefits from age 50?

The rules are changing though – from 6th April 2010 the minimum age for taking personal pension benefits is increasing to age 55. The change in the pension rules could mean those people who are now aged 50-54 and wanting to take their pension benefits early being forced to take pension benefits from age 55 – thereby having to defer retirement for up to 5 years.

Pension Planning for Non-Earners

Many people assume that a personal pension plan is only available for those people who are in paid employment. Historically this was the case as there was a need to be in receipt of “net relevant earnings” in order to qualify for pension contributions.

This income had to be “earned” income – so if for example you had a large percentage of your income come from savings and investments then this “income” could not be used to calculate the maximum amount which you could invest in a personal pension plan.

How to Maximise Pension Income in Year One

How to Access in Excess of 25% of Your Pension Fund Today

Many people often ask about “cashing in their pension plans”. Unfortunately, many people are under the illusion, or simply don’t recall, that you cannot simply take all the funds accumulated under your pension plan out in one go.

Read more…..

Personal Pension Plans – an introduction

One popular method of saving for retirement is to use a “personal pension plan”. This is a tax-efficient savings vehicle for building a fund from which to take a lump-sum and/or income in retirement.

It offers a number of tax benefits which will be covered later in this article.