Pensions are designed to enable you to save sufficient money to live comfortably after you have retired from work. There are many different 'tools' used to save for retirement and the taxation and investment elements of pensions can appear baffling. We specialise in explaining, recommending and monitoring pensions for you. Below are the most common sources of pension to fund for your retirement.

The Basic State Pension - for people who have paid sufficient National Insurance contributions while at work or have been credited with enough contributions.

Additional State Pension - this is now the State Second Pension (S2P). Before 6 April 2002, it was known as SERPS (State Earnings Related Pension Scheme). From 6 April 2002, SERPS was reformed to provide a more generous additional State Pension for low and moderate earners, carers and people with a long term illness or disability. The reformed additional State Pension is known as the State Second Pension. State Second Pension is based upon earnings on which standard rate Class 1 National Insurance contributions are paid or treated as having been paid. Additional State Pension is not available in respect of self employed income.

An Occupational Pension (through an employer pensions scheme) - if your employer operates a pensions scheme, it's usually a good idea to find out about the benefits of the scheme.

A Personal Pensions Scheme (including Stakeholder schemes) - open to nearly everyone and especially useful if you are self-employed or your employer doesn't run a company scheme.

"A" Day (Appointed day) arrived on 6th April 2006 and brought with it sweeping and radical changes for all pension plans - whether occupational or personal.

From this date there will be just one set of tax rules for all types of pension, with an individual Lifetime Allowance (£1.65 million - 2008/2009) and an individual Annual Allowance (£235,000 - 2008/2009). These limits will increase each year (Please ask for the specific yearly limits). All individuals will be able to fund up to these new attractive limits. Schemes already in existence before this date will need to update their rules to allow some of the new flexibilities.

Exceeding the limits will simply trigger a tax charge.

The "A" Day rules made the majority of pensions much simpler making pensions easier to understand and allowing customers to have greater flexibility in the size and timing of their contributions.

Other Changes;

• Early retirement age will rise from age 50, to age 55 by the year 2010
• Full concurrency (i.e. being able to pay into any array of plans you wish), subject to the annual allowance
• Wide investment flexibility
• Up to 25% Tax Free Cash will be available from the majority of pension schemes.
• The ability to commute a 'small' fund as a one off lump sum as opposed to having to draw a regular income
• Flexible options at retirement when deciding to take benefits
• No need to 'have to' secure benefits at age 75 via an annuity