Rather than just asking my clients the questions "How much would you need to retire on and at what age", I prefer to ask my clients how they see their own retirement. It does lead to some colourful answers! However, I believe it is an important step in the planning process to visualise their own retirement.
Since April 2006 pension legislation has seen some radical changes, the bulk of which, I believe are extremely positive and, give people a real incentive to save for their futures. Pensions have come a long way from the dark days of commission riddled savings plans which were the subject of many mis-sold cases in the 80's and 90's. Pensions today, are low charge, flexible and offer superb fund management.
As part of my planning process I would seek to use all available tax relief I can when formulating my clients retirement plans. This, coupled with the option of self investing and independent fund selection puts my clients on the right road to achieve their own goal's.
The tax position depends on the individual circumstances and can be subject to change.