22 September 2025
Annuities are paying out more: why are pensioners still avoiding them?Annuity rates are looking much juicier than they were thanks to rising bond yields, but retiring pension savers don’t seem to be taking much notice. When George Osborne introduced the pension freedoms a decade ago, the proportion of people buying an annuity at retirement plummeted from 90% to around 10%. It has remained close to that level ever...
17 September 2025
State pension expects 4.7% increase to beat inflationPensioners will be rejoicing at the prospect of an inflation-busting rise to the state pension from April next year as a result of the triple lock guarantee, with the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) earnings growth figure coming in at 4.7% for the period between May and July of this year.
The triple lock guarantee means that the state...
11 September 2025
Saving for retirement when you’re self-employedWhen you work for yourself, you don’t have the luxury of auto-enrolment and a HR department to sort a pension for you. Competing pressures on your time and the fact income can be lumpier than a regular salary can mean that saving looks different for you.
But pensions are not just for employees and the powerful tax perks they come with can turn even...
11 September 2025
HMRC toughens checks on pension tax relief: could you be missing out on extra money?From 1 September, HMRC has made it tougher to claim pension tax relief, requiring everyone to evidence their claim for higher amounts. Previously, the requirement to evidence a claim was only placed on those paying in more than £10,000.
Those who have a pension in a ‘relief at source’ scheme or a personal pension like a Self-invested personal...
11 September 2025
How to invest in your pension during your 30sLife tends to take shape in your 30s, with career progression, the start of a family, and perhaps your first home. And while there’s a lot going on in the here and now, it’s also a vital time to start investing in your future self.
One of the easiest ways you can do this is through a pension. For many, a pension will be their main source of income...
10 September 2025
What to do with your pension in your 60sWhile lots of people in their 60s will either have retired or plan to retire imminently, this is by no means a given. Brits are living longer, healthier lives than ever before and many choose to keep working – either full or part-time – well into their 60s, 70s and even 80s.
Whatever your intentions, it’s important to keep up with pension policy...
10 September 2025
How to claim pension tax reliefLearn how pension tax relief works and how to claim it. Understand the benefits, limits, and steps to ensure you're getting what you're entitled to.
10 September 2025
Pension drawdown – What you need to knowCharlene Young, Senior Pensions and Savings Expert, runs through how pension drawdown works, its advantages, risks, and tax implications.
10 September 2025
How can you access your pension at retirement? Your pension options explainedCharlene Young, Senior Pensions and Savings Expert, runs through the four mains ways that you can access the pensions savings from your SIPP.
10 September 2025
This is what AJ Bell’s investors are holding in their SIPPsSelf-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) allow plenty of choice when it comes to investment options. This is a perk that many AJ Bell customers have taken advantage of, putting their savings into a variety of stocks, funds, investment trusts and ETFs instead of the cookie cutter pension investment options.
However, choosing investments for your...
10 September 2025
What to do with your pension in your 20sPlanning for your retirement is likely not your top priority in your 20s. You might be facing hefty university loans, trying to support yourself on an entry-level salary, and figuring out how you want to set up your life. But ironically, your 20s can be the most impactful working years for creating a comfortable retirement.
Thankfully, you can...
10 September 2025
Managing your pension in your 50sIn your 50s, retirement might be just over the horizon. All the years of saving for a goal in the distant future will suddenly start to pay off for avid investors. But now, there will be a new consideration: How do you manage your retirement savings, and when and how can you access them? Here are the main things you need to think about with...
10 September 2025
How to claim the state pensionYou’ve worked out your state pension age, checked for any gaps in your National Insurance record and know what amount you’re due to receive. But how do you get your state pension paid and is there any benefit to deferring it?
Although you should get a letter with an invitation code around four months before you reach your state pension age, you’ll...
10 September 2025
Investing your pension in your 40sIt’s easy to move retirement planning and saving in pensions to the bottom of your to do list, before suddenly feeling you’ve missed the boat. But the good news is that there are plenty of things that savers in their 40s can do to build their retirement pot.
Getting startedWhether you are well into building your pension or just getting started...
9 September 2025
How your pension can lower your tax billLike the sound of keeping more of what you earn and beating the worst tax traps in the UK system? Then read on to discover the power of pension contributions.
Rising incomes coupled with frozen thresholds and allowances mean the taxman is set to rake in an extra £20 billion this tax year, according to HMRC statistics. A further 500,000 people will...
8 September 2025
The state pension - everything you need to knowThe state pension forms a big part of lots of people’s retirement plans, with the money helping to bolster any income from personal or company pensions. But with the age being extended and worries about the rising cost of it for the government, there are concerns it could be trimmed back.
For those nearing retirement it’s important to know all the...
3 September 2025
When can I access my pension?Many of us start saving into a pension from the age of 22 or even earlier. This is the age from which your employer usually has to automatically enrol you into a pension scheme. If you choose to pay into a pension, then your employer also has to chip in with their own contributions.
It’s natural that as you start to approach retirement you will...
14 August 2025
Is dividend tax taking a toll on your gains?The number of people that will pay tax on their dividends across all income brackets has doubled over the past four tax years as the dividend allowance shrinks.
While the allowance used to be £2,000, it has now fallen to just £500, with the rest categorised as income. Now, 3.7 million people are paying tax on their dividends, and it’s not just...
11 August 2025
How much can savers have before hitting their tax-free limit?Even though the Bank of England cut interest rates this week, millions of savers will still be hit with a tax bill for their savings interest.
Our FOI this week showed that one in 15 taxpayers are expected to pay some tax on their savings in the current tax year. And HMRC estimates that Brits will earn around £20 billion from interest on non-ISA...
11 August 2025
Government highlights ‘chronic’ pension crisis: do you have enough to retire?More than two-fifths of working-age Brits are under-saving for retirement, equating to 14.6 million people, according to new figures from the Department for Work and Pensions.
The data found that fewer than 1-in-4 people are on course to hit trade body Pensions UK’s ‘comfortable’ retirement income level, and more than 1-in-10 won’t even reach the...
5 August 2025
Are you owed back tax on your pension? HMRC quirk eating into retirees’ incomeRetirees making flexible withdrawals from their pension have been temporarily shortchanged by nearly £1.5bn due to a quirk in HMRC’s systems.
New figures showed that in April, May and June this year Brits reclaimed £49 million of money where they have overpaid tax on their pension withdrawals. During the period nearly 13,000 reclaim forms were...
25 July 2025
How to make gifts from your pension incomeFrom 6 April 2027, pensions will be included in your estate for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes. There’s no doubt this aims to raise tax revenue, but the government clearly wants to encourage people to use their pensions in retirement, rather than leaving them untouched as a way of passing on wealth free of inheritance tax.
In this article, I’ll...
25 July 2025
Government confirms pensions will face inheritance tax: everything you need to knowThe government has confirmed it will press ahead with plans that mean most unused pensions will be subject to inheritance tax from April 2027.
How you are affected will depend on the value of your pension when you die, your other assets and who you plan to leave them to.
The government expects the changes to impact 8% of estates. While that is a...
24 July 2025
Why you may have to wait longer to claim the state pensionThe government has launched a new review of the state pension age, which may mean that it rises to the age of 68 sooner than planned.
Currently both men and women can claim the state pension from the age of 66, but this is already planned to rise to 67 and to 68 for future pensioners. However, the government has launched the third review of the...
16 July 2025
How to invest on a £30k salaryI started my first job in London on a salary of £30k. It wasn't the lowest salary among my friends, but every month still ended with dinners of a hodgepodge of pasta noodles from the back of my cupboard and sauce that was a few days past the best by date.
It didn’t feel very possible to set money aside for the future when it felt so necessary for...
