About Gina
Gina is a successful business owner in her fifties. She had been feeling uneasy about her pension for some time now as she did not understand what she had or what she was likely to get when she stopped work. While she had contributed to a number of pension arrangements offered by previous employers, she hadn’t paid much attention to how they had fared since she started working for herself. Gina had also accumulated a number of ISAs over the years and had no idea about how well the investments were doing.
How we brought simplicity, order and understanding to Gina’s finances
At our first meeting, Gina produced two carrier bags of papers relating to her pensions and investments. She frankly admitted that she did not understand what she had and needed help to bring some order to her retirement plans. So first up, we spent time talking to Gina about when she would like to stop work and what income she would need to maintain her lifestyle. Cashflow modelling was able to give Gina a view of what her financial position might look like when she stops work. We reviewed her investments and other future income streams,it was immediately apparent that a shortfall in retirement savings was probable. To bridge the gap, Gina needed to consider her future savings strategy, which had favoured ISAs in recent years.
Gina’s annual income was £115,000 and she was suffering an exceptionally high tax burden on her earnings above £100,000 due to the progressive loss of the Personal Allowance. We discussed diverting her savings away from ISAs and towards her pension because the pension payments would help to restore the lost Personal Allowance. By doing this, Gina would receive an effective rate of income tax relief on contributions of around 60%, and the additional payments would also put Gina on track to achieve her required retirement income. Gina was surprised to learn that she could access her pension funds in full from age 55.
We also looked at how Gina was paying into her pension. We were surprised to find that the bulk of pension contributions were being made from Gina’s personal income, rather than through the company. So we helped Gina set up a salary sacrifice pension arrangement to direct future contributions through her company – a simple step which gave both Gina and the company National Insurance (NI) savings. She would also receive tax relief on the payments immediately, rather than having to wait for her self-assessment form to be submitted.
We then turned our attention to Gina’s existing pension arrangements after discussing the level of investment risk that she was comfortable with. Gina’s pensions were not being actively managed and unsurprisingly the investment results were not as good as they could be. She had a range of pension pots which had different investments, many of which didn’t match Gina’s attitude to risk. Seeing as it can be hard to effectively manage such an array of pension investments, Gina decided to merge her pensions into one modern arrangement which offers an investment strategy attuned to her retirement plans and attitude to risk.
We found a similar situation when we looked at Gina’s stocks and shares ISAs. Once again, we unified them in one place where they could be properly monitored and managed.
Gina can now use our secure client system to view all of her pension and ISA holdings whenever she wants. We are also on hand to talk to her about her finances. As she cannot always meet in person (because her work takes her away from the UK) we use Zoom or the phone to keep regular contact – while ensuring her retirement plans stay on track.
Do you understand your current pensions and what you are going to get in retirement?
If not, let’s speak. Use the link below to book a free consultation at a time to suit you.
Book an appointmentIf you prefer contact us on 01273 711811 or hello@roxboro.uk.com