Retirement planing advice
If you’ve got a few years to go before you retire and you’re not sure whether you’re saving enough for the future, or if your retirement savings are working as hard as they can for you, you’ll may benefit from retirement planning advice.
A financial adviser can help you track down your pensions and recommend whether you might want to combine them or keep them separate. They can also help provide you with a rough idea of what sort of income your pensions might provide you with when you stop work, and let you know whether you’re paying too much in charges.
How much does it cost?
According to research by Unbiased.co.uk, the financial advice trade body, retirement planning advice on a £100 a month pension contribution would cost around £450 on average. Advice on the best ways to maximise pension saving 10-15 years before retirement, assuming a £250,000 pension pot, would typically cost £3,000.
Defined benefit advice
If you’re lucky enough to have a defined benefit or final salary pension, you’ll receive a guaranteed income at retirement based on a proportion of your final year’s pay, or an average over the last few years, multiplied by however many years you’ve belonged to the scheme.
This type of scheme has valuable guaranteed benefits , which is why we at Profile Pensions don’t offer advice on final salary schemes. However, if you are considering doing this and your final salary savings are more than £30,000 you must take professional advice. Bear in mind you will usually have to pay for this even if you ultimately decide not to do anything.
How much does it cost?
Advice on transferring a defined benefit pension with a transfer value of £250,000 would typically cost in the region of £3,800, according to Uniased.co.uk.
Consolidating pensions
Lots of us have several different pension pots, perhaps because we’ve worked for several different employers over the years and have joined their company schemes. This can make it tricky to manage your retirement savings, so you may want professional advice on whether you should consolidate all your pensions so you just have the one plan. You can find out more about consolidating pensions in our blog ‘Should I consolidate my pensions?’.
How much does it cost?
Consolidating three to five pension pots totalling £100,000 would typically cost around £2,000, according to Unbiased.co.uk.
Separate research by Which? found that if someone wanted to combine pension pots with a total value of £150,000 and open a self-investment personal pension, average fees would amount to £2,897.
At-retirement advice
You may need advice when you reach retirement to help you work out the best way to draw an income from your pension. For example, you might want an adviser to help set up a drawdown scheme for your pension pot, or to convert your pension fund into a lump sum and annuity.
There is free guidance available on the options available to you from the Government’s Pension Wise service provided you’re aged 50 or over and have a defined contribution pension, but you’ll need to seek professional financial advice if you want personal recommendations or advice which is tailored to your specific circumstances.
How much does it cost?
According to research by consumer association Which? someone looking for advice on converting a £100,000 pension pot into retirement income would typically pay £1,837 or 1.84% of the funds value.
Check out our blog on ‘The benefits of pension advice’ to find out more about some of the different ways advice might help you get more from your retirement savings.
