Areas of Advice

Pensions

Since Pension freedoms were introduced in 2015 you can now access your pension and the benefits from age 57. In most cases you can take a tax-free lump sum of up to 25% and then use the residual fund to take an income through investment (with either an Annuity or Drawdown).

For many people the tax-free cash lump sum element of crystallising your pension fund is an attractive benefit, either to pay off debts before retirement, buy a new car, or to go on that long earned holiday. Before jumping in and accepting the first offer to access this money you should think about:

1. Whether you will have enough fund remaining to offer a sustainable income for the rest of your life.
2. How you will take your income in retirement most tax efficiently.
3. And finally, if you really need to take this money now or would it be better to invest it uncrystallised to grow both the remaining pot and the tax-free cash lump sum between now and when you actually choose to retire

Before you make any decisions about crystallising your pension or taking your lump sum you will need to know what type of scheme you currently have and what benefits you may already be entitled to. A Defined Benefit (DB) or final salary pension scheme is based on a number of factors including how long you have worked for your employer and the salary you earned. The benefits usually include some form of guaranteed income, a guaranteed annuity rate or protected tax-free cash element.

There are rules about who should and shouldn’t consider transferring a DB or final salary pension and you legally must have sought advice to explore a transfer if the fund greater that £30,000.

Final Salary & DB Transfers

Over the last few years, the rules surrounding transferring defined benefit (DB) schemes and Final Salary (FS) schemes have changed significantly. Whereas in the past clients could decide whether they wanted to retain protected benefits in their current scheme or transfer out, it is now not such a clear-cut choice.

Pension Transfer Specialist (PTS) companies have to consider whether the facts about a client’s personal circumstances meet the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidelines (critical criteria) for transfer. If they do not, they may not recommend a transfer at all.

Raven Wealth work with our clients to prepare them for this process by first gathering information to ensure the relevant facts that meet the criteria are flagged in our initial discussion. Second, we select the PTS that suits our client’s personal circumstances to explore leaving their pension scheme. We work closely with a number of Pension Transfer Specialist partners; we guide your through the process from beginning to end.

Due to the complexity of this process it has become one of our main areas of client business, for which we have received many five star reviews. Go to our testimonials page to read what our clients have said about us.

‘The FCA and TPR believe that it will be in most people’s best interests to keep their defined benefit pension. If you transfer out of a defined benefit pension, you cannot reverse it. Make sure you understand the risks to help you make an informed decision.’ Extract from the FCA website (30/09/2020)

Equity Release

Equity Release is a way of unlocking some of the value of your home to provide a cash sum or an income without having to move. How much equity you release depends on your age, how much your house is worth and how much you choose to borrow. With most plans that are available to you are not required to make any payments throughout the life of your plan.

You might want to make improvements to your home; go on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday; pay off some debts; fund ‘care’ at home; or purchase luxuries that make life a little more comfortable. A growing number of people are therefore choosing to tap into the value of their homes through equity release.

Speak to our Raven Wealth IFA to explain the options available to you with equity release and to help you decide whether it is right for you.

Estate & Inheritance Tax

As part of the holistic review of your financial health, it is important not to leave this question unaddressed until it is too late and potentially be unable to make important decisions yourself.

You will need to decide who you would like to make decisions about your health and finances, but also, to seek advice about inheritance tax if you have significant inheritable assets.

Holistic Financial Planning

It is often tempting to think about each of your financial products or investments in isolation, dealing with one at a time. This is where seeking professional advice will help you avoid making irreversible decisions that could leave you less welloff later on.

At Raven wealth we explore all your your retirement goals and build a strategy to address each of those objectives as part of the holistic plan. Our areas of advice support this approach and therefore we cover cover a much wider area than the key services we offer above. If we do not offer a particular service but identify a need we have a number of professional partnerships that can help.

The areas we can also advise on include: