Getting On The Right Track

I was asked a little while ago about the best way to get to Manchester from Milton Keynes. “Easy” I said, “just get on the M1 then the M6. Just south of Birmingham, you can either take the M6 Toll which is potentially quicker and a lot more relaxing than the M6, although it is a pretty boring road. If you don’t fancy paying the toll, the M6 takes you close to the centre of Birmingham so is more prone to traffic, but you will get to see Spaghetti Junction!”

My enquirer listened politely to my answer and its reasoning. Once I’d finished, he said quietly “I haven’t got a car”.

When we were putting together the services to be offered under our new Richmond House Corporate Services proposition, we were very keen to make “Financial Education” a central theme. Therefore, we wanted to ensure that all employees are given an outline of their options on how to use their accumulated pension funds.

Which brings me back to my “Getting to Manchester” scenario. To be able to use the options requires that people have the ability to use them. This means, in pension terms, they must have accumulated a reasonable size pension fund, and have other available assets, before the questions about whether to go annuity or drawdown or a combination is relevant.

It was at this point we realised our “At/Close To Retirement” education sessions should not be the only session on offer but that we would need to provide sessions to many other groups to help them get to retirement with their finances in a way that they would need to consider the various options available to them.

Retirement planning isn’t about serendipitously getting to your 60s and finding you have a pension fund of £250,000 that you hadn’t previously realised was there. It is about ensuring you have a plan in place to give you the level of income you anticipate needing once your working life is over. It is not about just paying what you need to in order to get the employer contribution, it is about paying what you can afford that will give you a quality of life in retirement that you want. And it certainly doesn’t start at 60. Effective planning starts when an employee is in their 20s and 30s.

Therefore, our education sessions are aimed at all categories of employee. Those just starting out on their working life, the 30 and 40 year olds raising families, the 50 year olds with newly freed up wealth and, of course, the 60 year olds who have accumulated their funds and are now looking how best to use them.

For further details on how the Richmond Hose Corporate Services proposition can help your employees and enhance your standing as a caring and concerned employer, please contact us on 0333 241 3350.

Peter Murphy Dip PFS

This information is provided strictly for general consideration only. No action must be taken or refrained from based on its contents alone. Accordingly, no responsibility can be assumed for any loss occasioned about the content hereof and any such action or inaction. Professional advice is necessary for every case