It's time to check your pension

Do you work in France? Do you contribute to the French State Pension? Will the state pension retire before you do?

The main thrust of our business at the moment is retirement; both the use of capital and pension in retirement but more importantly, having something to retire on.  In the pension business, we have three ages of man as far as pensions go:

Thirty and thinking

Forty and frightened

Fifty and f***** (finished or put in your own expletive)

The stock market has certainly taken us for a stomach-churning ride recently. But these things happen and hopefully the worst is now over. However, the long downturn has left some problems in its wake for many people with pension schemes.

Got a Good Pension?

If you are planning to retire in the next few years or so, this could be a good time to review where you are now, work out where you want to be and take steps to get there.

You could sell the family silver. A pension plan doesn't have to be a Pension Plan. Anything of value that you have earmarked for your retirement could count towards your pension planning, whether it's an investment bond, a savings fund, PEPs, ISAs, a classic car, a couple of Rembrandts, a legacy, even a chunk or all of the family home.

In an ideal world, many people would aim for a pension income of about two thirds of their final salary. In practice, the pension you need will depend on the standard of living you want when you retire. So it would be wise to work out how much income you're going to need to provide that standard of living.

Will Life Be Cheaper?

Will the mortgage be paid off by then?

Will the kids have left university?

Will they have left home? (We hope so)

Will their weddings be behind you?

Will you have moved to a smaller home that's cheaper to run?

Will you have stopped paying into various savings and life insurance schemes?

All these things can reduce your cost of living. On the other hand going around the world will put them back up!

Get a UK State Pension Forecast

You can get a State Pension forecast telling you in today's money the State Pension you have already earned in the UK and what you can expect to have earned by State Pension age. It will also include details of your additional State Pension if you have one.

You can download the State Pension forecast application form from The Pension Service website, or call the Retirement Pension Forecasting Team on 0845 3000168 and they will fill in the form with you over the phone. Lines are open from 9am to 5pm and calls are charged at local rates.

You can also write to them at Retirement Pension Forecasting Team, Room TB001, Tyneview Park, Whitley Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE98 1BA and ask for a forecast application and a return envelope to be sent to you.

You now know roughly what you can expect from your pensions and you have worked out what your cost of living might be when you retire. The question is: will you have enough money or are you heading for a shortfall?

If you are heading for a pension "gap", it needn't be too late to make up the difference; provided you act promptly. Even if you are on track, you might consider doing a bit more so that you can enjoy an even better retirement.

If you're lucky enough to be in a company scheme or if you're employed in France you'll receive a pension scheme at retirement based on your length of service and salary level. However you're unlikely to retire on two thirds of your final salary unless you are one of the very few who has been employed by the same company and in the same pension scheme for forty years or more.

We Can Help

Pension planning is something we nearly all leave too late to be effective but something can be done and the sooner we do something (anything) the better off we will be.  The French state schemes are being played with; as in the UK and most of Europe, the system will be unable to maintain the current level of state provision.  We will be expected to do it for ourselves and even if we are fifty now, we can still make a considerable difference to our pension.  

If it is your 45th birthday today, and you want to retire at 60, you only have 180 months to do something about sending money ahead.  That's 180 paydays!  180 days to do something about an average retirement of 15 years!

If you are already retired you need investment schemes which will keep up with inflation and maintain your income.  Protected investments exist that can do just that and remove the risk of losing it all in some dodgy "off-shore" arrangement.

We have a variety of schemes both to help you "top-up" your existing arrangements, or if you are a wandering Brit, you could utilise an International Pension Plan.

Once you've sorted out your pension arrangements, don't forget about them. Check with your scheme provider on a regular basis to make sure everything is working for you, as it should. If you become better off, you may want to pay in more to build up your pension or get another policy. Check with your pension provider to see what charges are involved. You should contact a financial adviser, us, so call one of the team and let's start planning your future properly. 

How Can I Track an Old Pension?

If you think you may have an old private pension, but you are not sure of the details, we can usually help by tracing it for you.

Richard Bayle, is an associate of sarl Schreinemachers, assurance consultants.  He has been in the insurance business for over 34 years and is registered in France as a Courtier d'Assurance.

richard@insurance.fr

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The team