Home › Resources › Personal › Retirement and pensions

Retirement and pensions

A series of guides to retirements and pensions.

…

This content is only available to our registered users.

Please log in or create a free account, to gain access to our extensive business, personal and tax guides.

Achieving financial security in retirement

For many people their retirement plans have been devastated by the fall of the stock market in 2008/09, reduction in property values and the fall in interest and annuity rates. What chance now of a 'comfortable retirement'?

Pension contributions and tax relief

Any member of a registered pension scheme may make unlimited contributions to a registered pension scheme. However to qualify for tax relief a contribution must be a relievable pension contribution made by a relevant UK individual.

Pension credit

Details of pension credits.

Pension premiums

There is no limit on the amount that may be contributed to a registered pension scheme. The maximum amount on which an individual can claim tax relief in any tax year is the greater of the individual's UK relevant earnings or £3,600.

Qualifying for a state pension

The conditions for getting the state pension were amended by the Pensions Act 2007 and mainly affected people reaching state pension age on or after 6 April 2010. The changes introduced partly as a result of the fact that less than 25% of women were entitled to a full state pension.

Stakeholder pensions

Stakeholder pension schemes are low-cost pensions meant for people without existing private pension arrangements. They were originally targeted at people who earn more than £10,000 a year and who cannot join an occupational pension scheme. They have, however, turned out to have much broader appeal.

State pension deferral

State pension deferral is the right to defer entitlement to the State Pension. In return for deferring a lump sum accrues with interest added to the deferred entitlement at a rate normally of 2% over bank base rate. Therefore the deferral claim cannot accurately be evaluated in advance. Examples of the potential lump sum entitlement are shown in our tax rates.