Staying Ahead Of Changes to Pension Planning
- Author Ian Leeson
- Published December 10, 2010
- Word count 521
Pension planning is an essential part of everyone’s life - whilst it’s quite natural to focus on your professional life today, your pension arrangements can affect every facet of life tomorrow. Pension arrangements can be complex; therefore it is advisable to work with a pension specialist to ensure your plans stay up to date with changes in legislation. You might want to review some of the key changes to UK pensions with this brief overview, before speaking to a specialist pensions advisor.
It’s certainly true that none of us ever knows what is around the next corner throughout life, and your pension planning can be substantially affected by life events that you perhaps weren’t able to anticipate. As well as changes in circumstances, changes to the UK’s pension legislation also impacts on those plans. 2006 was an important year for UK pension legislation with the introduction of changes originally intended to simplify the laws. However, the last two budgets alone then introduced yet another fresh wave of legislative changes which are going to specifically affect higher earners. The amount that those on higher salaries or business earnings will be able to contribute towards pensions is going to be restricted. It used to be set at up to 100% of earnings with a limit of £255,000 per year but will now be restricted from April 2011. It is not clear at this stage what the new contribution limit will be, but it could represent a very substantial reduction indeed. There are also changes to pension tax relief underway which also target higher earners.
Some analysts argue that the net effect of these changes is that opportunities for pension planning are essentially being reduced. The more astute pension planning services have responded by advising interested higher earners on how to employ a variety of investment vehicles to maximise tax advantages. Two such opportunities are Venture Capital Trusts and Enterprise Investment Schemes.
Both of these schemes can produce products which take on a myriad of different structures and they are quite simply areas beyond the skills (and time available) for the average investor alone. They both require expert professional advice and support through every stage of the process, from the initial enquiry to any initial commitment to invest and for committing funds over the longer term. Your advisor should be fully prepared to discuss the risk profile of each individual proposal to you - those associated with the various financial products for both of these types of scheme will not suit every type of investor.
Whilst Benjamin Franklin once famously quipped that the only two certainties in life were death and taxes, perhaps a third category should be added - changes to personal wealth management. You are usually advised to commit to investment for your retirement, to mitigate unwelcome unexpected events and for happier ones such as an expanding family. Additionally, it is also now more important than ever to take advice to ensure your plans are the most effective possible despite every new change. The better advisors will help you assess where you are today and optimise your plans for the future.
Ian Leeson works with SRLV, a West End based firm of Chartered Accountants and Business Consultants offering a one-stop shop for the financial needs of both the individual and the business community.
Article source: https://articlebiz.comRate article
Article comments
There are no posted comments.
Related articles
- The challenge of Cholera today
- The Ultimate Guide to 3D Animation: From Basics to Advanced Techniques
- Strategic Equipment Financing: Simplifying Capital Investments for Sustainable Growth
- Transform Your Health Journey with Able's Online Weight Loss Counseling
- Are the Crocs' shoes good for your feet?
- Your Ultimate Guide to False Eyelash Types: Find Your Perfect Match!
- Discovering Lighting Stores in Brampton: Spotlight on Fehmilights
- Blue Pacific Financial Loans
- Why is SEO for businesses on the Wirral important
- Proton Mail In Vivaldi Email
- Email Deployment
- Search Engine Marketing: Unleashing Its Power for Your Business
- Squarespace email campaigns vs Mailchimp
- Squarespace email campaigns vs Mailchimp
- Commercial Cleaning Services in Auckland: A Deep Dive into Angel Cleaning
- What is CCTLD?
- Why Women of Color Need to Support Kamala Harris
- Email Extractor from CSV
- How to download Gmail email content into a CSV file.
- Is email marketing legit?
- How SEO Can Improve Your Business?
- Mitsubishi Electric proves heat pump compatibility with microbore pipework
- Polio: Doctors Struggled to Advise the Public Correctly.
- What makes the city of Melbourne such a unique place?
- What is the role of the Royal Society of London?
- Festive Decor with a Global Twist
- Mixer of Styles, The Boho Mid Century Farmhouse
- Explore Cape Town: Group Cape Town Tours With a Private Shuttle
- Exploring Airbnb Cleaning Service in Auckland: History, Trends, and Future Implications
- Chauffeur Car and Driver Hire Services in Cape Town