Charlene Young is AJ Bell’s Senior Pensions and Savings Expert. She joined AJ Bell in 2014 from a wealth management firm where she worked with private clients and small businesses as a financial planner.
Charlene has over 15 years’ experience in financial services, holding Chartered Financial Planner status and Chartered membership of the Personal Finance Society (PFS). She's also an associate member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and has a degree in Economics and Finance from the University of Bristol.
She's a core member of our team who create content and information to help you invest - from how to map out your financial goals and which accounts can help you on your investing journey, to making sense of the more intricate parts of the tax and pension rules.
Pensions are Charlene's thing, and her goal is to make them less daunting and complicated for everyone. She does this by writing articles for our website and investor newsletters, as well as recording podcasts, videos and webinars for our website, apps and social media channels. She’s been instrumental in the delivery of AJ Bell’s 'Learn' area – a hub of educational content for those newer to investing.
You’ll also see Charlene representing AJ Bell at our investor events and providing comments for national press and adviser publications. She’s a director of AJ Bell’s pension trustee companies.
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...
14 July 2025
How dividends can boost your returnsDividends might be classed as income, but if you reinvest them, they can make a valuable contribution to your overall investment growth over the long term. This article looks at the impact of dividend reinvestment and what you might need to watch out for.
The main potential benefit is that you can harness the power of compounding returns. Put...
17 June 2025
Gifting money: how inheritance tax works on different assetsLabour’s 2024 Budget contained proposals to bring more assets into the clutches of inheritance tax (IHT) for the first time as well as an extended freeze of the tax-free allowances and thresholds. Currently around one in 20 estates pay IHT, but this is expected to narrow to one in 10 by the end of this parliament.
What is in my estate?Your ‘estate...
17 June 2025
Planning your income for retirementYou’ve spent your working life building up your savings and investments across different pension, investment accounts and ISAs. When the time comes, it’s worth having an eye on the way different income sources are taxed.
By understanding how your tax-free allowances, you can make your wealth last longer through retirement and keep more of what you...
23 May 2025
Consolidating pensionsHaving multiple pensions can mean it’s difficult to get an overall picture of your retirement savings. Discover how to consolidate pensions here.
22 May 2025
Reporting capital gains tax for 2024/25? Make sure you’re not caught outChancellor Rachel Reeves increased the main rates of capital gains tax (CGT) to 18% and 24% in her maiden budget on 30 October 2024. The rate for trustees and personal representatives also rose to 24%.
But the mid-year change means some people filing self-assessment tax returns for 2024/25 risk underreporting and underpaying any tax they owe.
That...
20 May 2025
How cutting charges can boost your pension pot by over £50,000Pensions come with great tax perks to help boost your retirement savings, including sheltering the investments you hold in a pension from tax. But high pension charges can eat into your overall returns. And just like investment returns, the impact of higher charges on your pension pot can compound over time.
How much could you save by making sure...
20 May 2025
Five ways combining pensions can boost your retirement potIf you’ve moved between different jobs over time, you’ll probably have built up pensions in a few different places. Getting them in one place not only helps you remove a whole heap of hassle, but it can also boost your retirement pot.
Here are five benefits of combining your pensions.
1. Easier managementOne pot means it’s far easier to keep an...
14 May 2025
The five-step plan to recession-proof your financesWhat can you do to prepare your finances to be as recession-proof as possible in case we see an economic downturn? Read our five-step plan to help.
