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.
16 January 2026
Why hitting 75 still matters when it comes to your pensionsWhen the pensions lifetime allowance was abolished in 2024, it was widely seen as good news for people with larger pension pots. But it also created a bit of a myth; that age 75 no longer matters in the world of pensions.
It’s true that there is no lifetime allowance test at 75 to worry about, but it remains a key point where HMRC draws a line...
15 January 2026
What you can do about changes to salary sacrificeSalary sacrifice has hardly been out of the news since the November Budget. It’s a formal agreement between you and your employer to lower your headline salary in return for pension contributions. The salary sacrificed up front is then exempt from National Insurance (NI) deductions for both you and your employer and in some cases, your employer...
14 January 2026
Scottish Budget: income and wealth tax changes explainedIn a boost for those on lower incomes, Scottish taxpayers will see some income tax thresholds rise from 6 April 2026 for earned income.
But the 788,000 Scottish taxpayers who are forecast by the Scottish Fiscal Commission to pay tax at the higher rate and above from 2026 will still be at the mercy of fiscal drag. This is because the higher...
8 January 2026
A major tax deadline is approaching: do you need to file a return?The festive period is now firmly in the rear-view mirror and millions of people are yet to file their self-assessment tax return for the 2024/25 tax year ahead of the 31 January deadline.
Although nearly 20,000 filed a return on New Year’s Day, just under half of the expected 12 million tax returns are yet to be received by the taxman, according to...
6 January 2026
Annuity vs drawdown – what’s the difference?Comparing different retirement income options can help you make an informed decision. Find out more about the differences between annuity and drawdown.
5 January 2026
What happens to my pension when I die?When you die, you can pass on your pension to a beneficiary - one of the great tax advantages of a Self-invested personal pension (SIPP). Learn about SIPPs on death.
15 December 2025
Pension transfersWhether you want to transfer an old workplace pension to your SIPP, or transfer to AJ Bell from another pension provider, learn more about SIPP transfers here.
10 December 2025
Approaching or in retirement; here’s your Budget breakdownRachel Reeves has now delivered her second Budget, but as I’m writing this column, most of the headlines seem more concerned with the lead up to the speech – government leaks and the future of the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) – rather than the smorgasbord of policies announced.
So, what changed for people who are approaching or already in...
9 December 2025
Embracing uncertainty – what you need to know about investment riskWhen you hear the word ‘risk’ in the context of investing, your first thought could be in relation to losing money. It’s an understandable reaction – after all, no one likes the idea of their hard-earned savings falling in value. But investment risk is more than just the chance of loss. It’s also the reason investors can grow their money over time...
19 November 2025
How could changes to salary sacrifice affect you?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...
