This document provides information about the importance of retirement planning and conducting a retirement review. It stresses that planning ahead is crucial to ensure retirees can afford their desired lifestyle. A retirement review involves assessing a person's needs, objectives, current pensions and policies to understand what income they are projected to receive and if there are any gaps. It aims to help people position themselves best for retirement rules and afford their plans. The document dispels some common myths about retirement planning, such as relying solely on the state pension, treating a business or home as a pension, or believing it is too late to plan. It emphasizes taking advice from financial experts to understand retirement options and make the most of pension plans.

1. YOUR RETIREMENT
REVIEW

2. THE IMPORTANCE
OF YOUR REVIEW
We can’t stress enough how important it is to
plan ahead for your retirement.
In your first meeting, we’ll prompt your thoughts …
• When will you stop working?
• Will you go part time?
• How old will your children be?
• Where will you live?
• How will you fill your time?
• What are you grand plans?
When will your state pension be due and how
much will you get?
What will your spouse receive?
Have you saved enough?
What is your essential expenditure?
What are you on track for now?
What are the benefits and drawbacks to your
current pension plans?
How much tax will you pay?
What can you leave behind and how will it be
taxed?
Can you afford the lifestyle you desire?
How do your other financial plans and policies
integrate?
For some, even thinking about pension planning seems boring, for
others it’s too far away to even think about. It may feel that way now
but we promise it won’t when you near your desired retirement age,
or start dreaming of what you’d like to do when you finally quit work…
for good!
Some of your questions we can help with…

3. Any financial adviser will admit that the hardest
conversation to have with a new client comes when we
audit their pensions and find that they need to make
serious cutbacks or cancel their grand plans for retirement.
This often affects the first few years of retirement when
big plans involving big expenditure is high on our client’s
retirement to do list.
For most, retirement can’t come quick enough, but can
you really afford to retire at the age you desire? Even if
you’re of the mindset that “I’ll work ‘til I’m dead” but..
have you thought of a backup plan just in case things
don’t work out?
The typical age a new client enquires about his/her
retirement is fifty, with a mortgage, teenage children and
a desire to retire within 10 years. Unfortunately, most
have no idea where their pensions are, what they are
worth or how much income they may generate and when.
Most don’t know how much they are entitled to from
the state, when they can draw it or how it actually works.
What is a retirement review?
A retirement review will involve a meeting with one of
our retirement experts to explore your financial planning.
We will assess your needs and objectives along with
reviewing the policies you have in place. We will help
you to understand the planning you already have, what
you need from your pensions and how you will achieve
Guardian Wealth Management are specialists in pension and retirement planning.
We help clients arrange their affairs to best position themselves for their future, and
support them along the way. We are here for you up to and throughout your retirement.

4. GIVE
YOURSELF
OPTIONS
The longer you wait to plan,
the less time you have

5. Why take advice?
• Do you understand your pension statements?
• Do you know how your pensions work and how this
affects your options?
• Do you know what retirement income you’re on
track for?
• Is there a gap between when you want to retire and
when you’ll get your state pension?
• Do you know the taxes associated with your pension
and how this may change depending on where you
live?
• Do you understand the new pension legislation, are
you keeping your plans up to date to position yourself
best for the new rules?
• Are you within annual and lifetime limits?
• Do you monitor the performance within your plans?
• If occupational, do you know the financial strength of
your pension’s underlying structure?
• Do you understand what will happen to your pension
when you die or who can or will benefit?
• Are you retiring offshore? Will you move around?
• Do you have concerns over currency exchange
fluctuations?
• Have you accounted for the potential inflation rates
in your country of residence?
What’s the difference between a private pension
and my final salary plan?
A final salary plan is structured in advance, the benefits
are pre-defined and rigid. While this sort of policy is
structured and secure, it cannot adapt to your changing
circumstances and requirements. For some, an
increasing income for life is most appealing, but there
is more to consider
• UK taxation, deducted at source from your final salary
income
• Death benefits
• The scheme’s funding status
• Flexibility over income
• The need for lump sums for one-off purchases
• The potential for investment growth beyond inflationary
increases
• Control – over investments and costs
• The ability to structure your own income benefits,
you may want a higher income early in retirement to
do all the things you dreamed of, rather than finding
yourself with a lovely big pension income when you’re
in your 80’s.

6. DISPELL THE
MYTHS
It’s too late?
It’s not! Even those who have already stopped
working may find it useful to take stock of their
pension plans and find out how to make them work
for the best now, and for the future.

7. “You can’t trust pensions!”
Private pension plans are simply savings schemes treated
differently by law, offering additional benefits and tax
efficiency whilst keeping to certain rules and limits. The
only reason you may have heard a ‘bad news’ story about
private pensions will likely be related to poor investment
performance. When we review your pensions we
concentrate on two key areas; ensuring your investment
strategy is fitting to your circumstances and attitude to
investment risk then, reviewing the costs within your
pension to ensure you aren’t paying too much (This can
itself inhibit growth).
“I can’t afford to save”
The trick to retirement planning is to start saving as soon
as possible. A fund with 40 years to grow is more beneficial
than one you create the year before you retire with no
time to grow. Save what you can as soon as you can.
“The state will provide for me, I’ve paid
taxes all my life”
The state pension is a popular toy for politicians, these
days it is most commonly used for government spending
cuts. It is only within the last few years that women’s
state pension has moved from 60 to 68 years. In addition,
the required number of years’ national insurance
contribution (NIC) has shifted from 30 to 35 years’. While
the flat rate pension has been much-talked about as a
benefit, it is not as simple as you would first think; there
are many complex adjustments according to your NICs
contributions over the years. It is highly likely that such
a large cost to the government will be cut further as
recent rumours include making state pensions means
tested and reducing the annual inflationary increase.
“My business is my pension”
This is a common but dangerous statement.
Even those with the most successful business,
the most brilliant successors and the perfect
partners can find themselves in turmoil at
retirement. Will you sell? Will you continue to claim
dividends? Will you remain a decision maker or
depend on the strategy of new owners? How will
you extract your cash? By adding a proper retirement plan
to your portfolio, you will be providing yourself with a
backbone to your retirement, even if your business will
supplement this. Talk to us about some of the ways
pensions can support and protect your business and its
assets.
Did you realise that many private pensions can purchase
a commercial property? This could allow your business
to sell the property to your pension plan, meaning it
collects rent from your business and grows in value, while
protecting the property from creditors ensuring your
financial security
“My house is my pension, I’ll downsize
at retirement”
It seems strange that many rely on releasing funds from
their property in order to fund their retirement. You may
justify it in your mind that the children have left and you
don’t really need all that space, but would you really want
to get rid of something you’ve worked for all your life?
Chances are you will have developed and cherished your
home, so why should you abandon it when you finally
have the time to enjoy it? The property market can be
fickle, it’s hard to rely on one single asset to supplement
your income, perhaps downsizing should be a consideration
if your health deteriorates and you struggle with the
upkeep. For your first ten years of retirement when you’re
still fit and active, you surely should enjoy the fruits of
your labour.

8. Information correct as of 8th May 2014. The information provided is for guidance only and advice should be sought before making any financial decisions.
Guardian Wealth Management Ltd cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions which result in financial loss.
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