Worldwide Financial Planning

Following last week’s column on the level of income you can take from your pension in retirement without eroding your capital, I’ll add some tips on how we might maintain your financial security by shoring up your pension values.

This week the government won a hard-fought compromise in its Brexit negotiations.

In years gone by, retirement was straight forward. You built up a reasonable fund of money and bought an income for life through an annuity. It was guaranteed and you had a few choices to think of: rising or flat income; guaranteed length of time after death; and spouse’s or children’s benefits were the key items to consider.

This week saw the historic meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore.

Since the introduction of new more liberal pension rules, 53% of pension pots accessed have been fully withdrawn. There is enough bait there for the unscrupulous. In 2016 during a three-month period, one in three people aged over 55 were targeted by pension scams.

This week, Brexit Secretary David Davis has taught us that the best way for a senior cabinet member to secure a date with Theresa May is to threaten to quit.