This may seem an obvious statement but its essential that anybody with a pension, thinking of getting a pension or looking to retire with a pension, seeks advice. Preferably the sooner the advice is taken the better. Once a pension is set up, it should be reviewed each year to ensure it is on track. As you go through your working career your attitude to investment risk will change with your changing family circumstances and therefore you pension should change with you.
An all to common scenario though is that a pension is set up at the beggining and never revisited until retirement. Some people join a company scheme and rush though the options on a lunch break. Other may have set one up with their bank and then changed banks.
Either way a pension plan needs looking at on regular basis to ensure its performing to personal requirements. Many pension plans are in old with-profit funds that are no longer actively managed, this may have been a good thing for some people but it may be that in certain circumstances this does not fit the pattern of the risk for others.
It’s never too late to review your circumstances. Speak to a retirement specialist. You may need to re-evaluate the risk level of your fund, increase your monthly contributions or even change provider if your not happy performance.
A recent article from the BBC shows that people who do not take advice can be caught short with their pension arrangements. In many circumstances things can be sorted out so it’s never too late to seek good quality advice from a retirement expert.
