Pensions

9 April 2026

It can be equally exciting and unnerving to think about your retirement day, but it is more of a process than a finish line.

After spending decades thinking about how to grow your pension pot, you reach a point where you might want to switch gears, instead putting more weight on preserving your wealth and generating income to support retirement...

9 April 2026

A Self-invested personal pension – or SIPP for short – gives you lots of options over where to put your money.

You will need to juggle quite a few different factors to determine the best investment plan, but among the most important is your current age and the point at which you hope to retire.

Our data shows AJ Bell customers in their 30s and 40s...

31 March 2026

We all work hard during our career to put money away for later in life, with a key focus on growing wealth over time. Hitting retirement often calls for a shift to the investment strategy that might have been in places for decades.

It’s easy to say you move from growth to income, yet the way you pivot depends on your age, risk appetite, life...

11 March 2026

Given the scale of the instability we are seeing in the Middle East – and specifically the knock-on impact on oil supplies and global confidence – it is inevitable there will be a short-term impact (at the very least) on people who are invested in global markets.

If you have a defined contribution (DC) pension – either set up through your employer...

19 February 2026

As much as we may want to invest, for most of us, there’s only so much money left over each month to put in the market. This means needing to pick and choose what we invest for, and how to make those investments. Fortunately, the UK offers two tax-efficient wrappers for investments through pensions and ISAs which can be a good starting point for...

11 February 2026

The state pension is the bedrock upon which millions of Brits build their retirement plans. However, the sands are shifting, with a long-trailed hike in the state pension age to 67 kicking off from April this year and completing in 2028.

In the short term, that is a recipe for confusion – many of those affected during the transition will inevitably...

2 February 2026

It is natural for someone who shares an interest with their friends or family to want to know what relevant choices they make – whether that is the outfits they bought, the paperbacks on their bookshelf, or even the records in their music collection. The same applies to investments and where people have put their money.

We all have different tastes...

19 November 2025

Reports suggest reform of salary sacrifice pension schemes could be on the cards as the Chancellor chooses to dance around Labour’s manifesto promises to boost the public finances.

Although clamping down on salary sacrifice isn’t an explicit tax rise, many employees will see less in their pay packets and ultimately their pension pots too. And...

13 November 2025

A slash of tax-free cash is said to be off the table for this month’s Budget, according to a confirmation by treasury officials to the Telegraph.

Attacking tax-free cash at the Budget would have been a tough sell for the chancellor, raising little money and causing uproar from young and old alike.

It would also likely have led to further industrial...

6 November 2025

MPs from the Petitions Committee have told the Treasury its response to an AJ Bell petition was not up to scratch after the Government refused to commit to current policies on pension tax-free cash or tax relief.

The Treasury’s response followed a petition raised by AJ Bell, which called for a commitment to pension tax stability. This primarily...

30 October 2025

How much money you need to save in your pension is an age-old question, and notoriously hard to answer.

Even those that are at retirement age aren’t able to perfectly estimate what they’ll need. There could be unexpected health issues, home expenses, or market volatility that you weren’t able to anticipate.

These numbers get even more vague when we...

22 October 2025

Pensioners account for almost half (44%) of all taxpayers facing an HMRC bill for interest earned on their cash savings, new data obtained by AJ Bell shows.

A freedom of information request from the investment platform shows HMRC expects 1,160,000 people over state pension age to incur an income tax liability on savings this tax year (2025/26).

It...

17 October 2025

Last year’s increases to capital gains tax (CGT) were perhaps not as bad as feared, but calls for reform have restarted as another budget looms. It’s a good time to consider the financial planning threats and opportunities arise.

Higher rates of capital gains tax were an unwelcome addition to the burden shouldered by investors, who already faced...

15 October 2025

The last years of your career aren’t something that’s usually associated with uncertainty. In many cases, you’ll have been at the company for years and bring a wealth of knowledge that has earned you status as a senior member of staff.

But often, a senior status comes with a fatter pay cheque. And in the event of a round of layoffs, this might push...

3 October 2025

AJ Bell is petitioning the government to make a public commitment not to alter key pension tax incentives – tax free cash entitlement and tax relief – for at least this parliament.

If you share this view, add your name to AJ Bell’s petition, with 10,000 signatures forcing a government response.

When people save in a pension they enter a tax pact...

2 October 2025

With the Budget fast approaching, the rumour mill is going into overdrive over whether there will be changes to pensions tax incentives from November.

Those who have built up larger pension pots must feel somewhat caught in the headlights. But trying to make decisions based on policy rumours becomes a guessing game.

Whether and when to take tax...

2 October 2025

Even though you receive the state pension from the government, it still is classified as taxable income. The full state pension is currently £230.25 a week, equivalent to £11,973 a year. This is based on 35 full qualifying years of National Insurance contributions. What you'll get will depend on your own record, and the number of qualifying years...

22 September 2025

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

Pensioners 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

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

Life 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...