Pension Advice and Retirement Planning

Making decisions about your pensions and retirement can be daunting, but don’t worry we’re here for you.

retired couple who received pension advice     

We can sleep easy at night, thinking no more money worries. – Jim & Janis Glen 

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Pensions & Retirement Advice

Independent Advice

We’re not tied to specific providers, meaning we’ll find the best options for you from across the market.

Pensions & Retirement Advice

Authorised & Regulated

We’re authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK’s financial services regulator.

Pensions & Retirement Advice

Free Initial Meeting

Your first meeting is no cost, so, let’s see how we can help.

What do you need?

Whatever you want to do in retirement, there’s a good chance we’ll be able to help you plan it.

So, whether you need:

  • Pension Advice & Retirement Planning
  • Investment and Savings Advice
  • Estate Planning Advice – Wills, Lasting Power of Attorney, Trusts and Care Fees Planning
  • Equity Release Advice – Releasing Tax Free Cash From Your Home

We’ll highlight your options and answer those all-important questions.

Essentially, it’s all about uncovering what keeps you awake at night and what your hopes are, then doing the money bit to work out how you get there.

What’s not to love about that?

pension advice client
pension advice & retirement planning

Helping with those difficult decisions

You probably have a whole host of questions and might want to know things like:

  • Do I have enough to retire?
  • Drawdown Vs Annuity?
  • Guaranteed monthly income or flexible access? 
  • Can I make sure my family are looked after?

But don’t worry. Our friendly and expert financial advisers know their stuff. We’ve got a fantastic process designed to help you clearly understand the pros and cons of the different optionsso you can make the right decisions for you. 

Your initial consultation is free of charge and the peace of mind is priceless. So, let’s explore your future and how we can help you get your ideal retirement lifestyle.

Pensions & Retirement Advice

Our expert says…

“People come first. We wouldn’t want to advise a client on a decision to make with their pension until we knew how they wanted to live their life.”

Louise Rudd, Pension Expert

Pension Advice

Whether you’ve loads of pensions or had the same one for years, we can help you make sense of your options 

What is pension advice?

Pension advice is professional support to understand how much money you have for retirement.  

You might have several pension pots from different workplace pension schemes, or you might have had the same one for decades. Either way, it can be difficult to work out what you’ve got and whether it’s enough. Pension advice can help you decide whether you have enough money to retire… or even retire early. 

You can get pension advice from financial advisers such as an independent financial adviser (an IFA). All pension advisers are required to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to give advice, recommend products and discuss investments.  

Why is pension advice important?

Pension advice is important because pension products can be complicated, and life can be unpredictable. Professional advice helps you make the right decisions about your money and your future. You need to know how much you’ve got, how to access it and when you can afford to retire comfortably.  

It can be tempting to bury your head in the sand and think that retirement planning is something to do in your sixties, as state pension age approaches. But if you do that, you might miss out on the chance to retire early.  

At Joslin Rhodes Pension & Retirement Planning, we’ve helped people retire years earlier than they thought possible, with an income to support their dream lifestyle. Our record’s 12 years early. Imagine what you could do with 12 extra years of comfortable retirement. 

Even if you can’t – or don’t want – to retire early, that’s not the only reason to seek independent pension advice.  

Without pension advice, you might retire without really knowing if you’ve enough money to last. This means you could spend your retirement worrying about money, even if you don’t need to. It’s our job to stop you being scared to spend your retirement savings and having a poor-quality retirement as a result. Pension advice and retirement lifestyle financial planning can help you understand your finances and enjoy retirement more, without the worry of running out of money.  

Who can give advice on pensions?

State pensions, workplace pensions, pension drawdown, annuities, investments, transfers… Retirement income can be complicated. But help’s at hand. For impartial advice on pensions, you can talk to an independent financial advisor (an IFA).   

An IFA will be able to talk to you about retirement planning, pensions, investments, inheritance tax and more. You’ll probably work with them long-term, with regular or annual check-ins to make sure everything’s on track.  

IFAs are registered with and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to make sure they provide sound financial advice. And, where you received advice on regulated products (including investments, insurance and Pensions) you have the protection of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). 

Which IFA you choose is entirely up to you. Most advisers, including us, offer a free initial consultation. Use this opportunity to speak to different advisers and find someone you get along with and who understands your individual needs and hopes for retirement. 

How to get independent pension advice

All independent financial advisers in the UK must be registered with the FCA to guarantee they’re qualified to advise you. So a great place to start your search for independent pension advice is the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) register  

To find a specialist in later life and retirement planning, the Money Advice Service has a directory of retirement advisers 

Why pay for pension advice?

Pensions are complicated and mistakes can be costly, both in terms of losing money and the impact of that on your lifestyle. The best way to prepare for your financial future is impartial pension advice that’s tailored to your specific circumstances.  

An independent financial adviser will use their expertise to help you make the most of your money.  

 They’re legally bound to give advice that benefits you and your circumstances and will  spend a lot of time understanding your specific needs and assessing your options 

 At Joslin Rhodes Pension & Retirement Planning, we don’t just advise on the financial side of things – although our pension experts really know their numbers. We start with your dream retirement lifestyle – what you really want from later life – then we work out how to get you there.  

 So, whilst theres a cost to professional financial advice, the benefits can be priceless, especially with our lifestyle planning approach – from realising you can retire years earlier than you thought, to having the peace of mind to live later life to the full knowing you have enough money to last.  

 Not only that but you get reassurance and legal protection when using a Financial Adviser. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the regulator of the financial services industry in the UK and all advisers must abide by their strict rules. Plus, by using a professional you’re also protected by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) 

Is all pension advice the same?

It’s not. There are different types of pension advice. Some is focused purely on the figures on your pension statement. This type of advice gives a quite one-dimensional, one-size-fits-all answer to the question of whether you can retire. It assumes that every year will be the same and retirement planning can be reduced to a simple equation.  

Here at Joslin Rhodes Pension & Retirement Planning, we take a holistic approach to give you complete confidence in your retirement finances. Instead of just looking at the numbers and the products you’ve got, we first look at the lifestyle you want. Because there’s no point retiring and not enjoying it.   

We’ll still answer the technical questions for you. But the focus is on you and the life you want. Once we know that, the answers to those technical questions become clearer. It’s all about making the right choices to get you closer to your ideal retirement.  

What’s different about pension advice from Joslin Rhodes?

We have our own unique way of working out whether you’ve got enough money to retire. We don’t just look at your age and pension pot and tell you ‘yes, you’ve got enough’ or ‘no, you don’t’.  

We want to get to the bottom of a bigger question. ‘Enough for what?’. Because there’s no point retiring early if you’re just surviving and pinching pennies. We work with you to understand what you want to do in retirement – holidays, hobbies, special occasions – and make sure you have enough for that. 

We dig deep to understand how much money you need to have a comfortable retirement doing the things you love. Then we start working out how to make it happen. It’s called ‘lifestyle financial planning’ but we call it PlanHappy ?  

What is Retirement Planning?

Retirement means something different to everyone. By helping you decide what lifestyle you want we can then work out how your finances can get you there.

Before you can work out what to do with your money, and whether flexibly drawing down funds when you need them or taking a guaranteed income for the rest of your life is best, you first need to decide what kind of retirement lifestyle is right for you.

Your neighbour might love the idea of skiing for three months every year, but you can’t think of anything worse.

What’s right for you is different to what’s right for others.

To work out how to plan your retirement, you first need to decide what lifestyle you want.

It all starts with a chat.

How can retirement planning help me?

You probably have a whole host of questions and might want to know things like:

  • Do I have enough to retire?
  • Will I always have enough?
  • Can I make sure my family are looked after?

Whatever your questions, we’re experts at helping you get the answers you’re looking for and may even answer some you’ve not thought of.

What is lifestyle financial planning?

it is a personal plan that offers a guide to your financial future based on your goals, present income and expenditures, investments, future expenditures, future returns, but most importantly we will help workout what you want from life and how to get you there.

Understanding your Investment Options

Investing is all about making your assets work, so you can live the lifestyle you want.

It starts by understanding where you are now and what you’re aiming for, so we can work out how to get you where you want to be.

But, everyone’s different when it comes to investing. What you can achieve is affected by things like:

  • How you feel about risk and swings in value
  • What returns you expect
  • Your previous investment experiences

How we can help?

It’s our job to monitor your circumstances, track changes and make any adjustments needed to keep your investments on track.

Essentially, it’s about getting the balance for income and growth right.

It all starts with a chat

Pension Drawdown Advice

Like the idea of drawdown, but not sure if it’s right for you? We’ll help you work it out.

What’s the benefit of pension drawdown?

The attraction with drawdown is the flexibility to access your money when and how you want.

You get to decide how much and how often you take it – giving you full control.

So, if you fancy a last-minute holiday, drawdown will give you the flexibility to do it.

However, you should be cautious…

What’s the downside to pension drawdown?

Like everything in life, too much freedom isn’t always a good thing. If you use that flexibility to overspend, your pot could run out quicker than you anticipate.

Plus, there are risks to any investments and taking out lots of money from your pot could have tax implications too.

Is pension drawdown right for you?

Ultimately, it’s about deciding what future you want and whether the option of drawdown would help you get it.

That’s where we come in – there to make sure you understand all the options and implications of any decision you make.

It all starts with a chat.

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