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27/06/14Well… when will you?

well...when will you?

Its 4.45pm, I’m in the office at the bottom of my garden, a glass of Sancerre is on my desk & then I find this graph and upend said glass over the table! Good afternoon one & all, its been a while.

These last couple of weeks have seen me speak to my clients about pickling their pension..in other words..preservation. When you see a stat like this (this is a study of a small sample-around 200 respondents and it was done last year) it makes you think. Now obviously I’m looking at the far right bar chart. Now what it doesn’t say is whether these respondents are choosing to work forever, because they want to, or because they have to.

As a micro business owner, I love what I do and cannot see a time when I won’t be working, but it will be because I want to and when I say work, it will probably be over lunch and at a leisurely pace.

My clients have accumulated their pension & are now looking to get the most out of it, because they recognise at aged 65, they could easily still be alive in 25yrs time, which is a vast difference between that of our parents, who would recite the lifespan as ‘3 score & ten’ (70yrs). We are also starting work later. some 40 years ago, the average starting working age was 15, now its 21. The retirement age was 65 and now its 68, and the average life expectancy has gone from 68 (males ONS statistic 29/3/12) out to 82.9 (males, Dorset ONS statistic 29/3/14)

So a shorter working life and a longer life expectancy, means that Steve Webbs’ ‘buy a Lamborghini’ quip was not the best thing to say, but with the new rules coming into play from April next year, there will be nothing to stop you doing just that, providing the fund is valued around £150,000 so you can buy one..but then you have to tax it, fill it & insure it..where’s that money coming from?!

Clearly, we must have some fun, after all, for most of us, the tax free cash element (which is 25% of the pension pot value) is our ‘lottery’ win and a chance to enjoy ourselves if we haven’t managed to do so along the way, but, as the fund has to last two lifetimes (if you’re married) and maybe, be passed onto you kids (yes, it can be done), then perhaps the pickling jar may be the preferred idea.

As ever, these are my ramblings and based upon the conversations I’ve had. This is not advice & can’t be seen as such. If you would like a free consultation without obligation then please get in touch via my website: www.business-ifa.co.uk and I’d be delighted to have a coffee & a chat with you.

Until the next time,

Victor

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