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You
need to make your own judgement on whether the retirement benefits provided by
the State would be enough for you to live on (and enjoy life) when you retire.
You need to ask yourself:
- Are the pensions from the State likely to be enough
for me?
- Can I save enough through a pension
plan to get more than the Minimum Income Guarantee would give me? (the Minimum
Income Guarantee is explained under State Benefits)
Before
you start contributing to a pension plan be sure that your other commitments including
mortgage or rent, hire purchase and credit card debts - can still be met. Instead
of a stakeholder pension you may want to consider other ways of saving and investing
for the long term. Consider getting professional advice that deals with your personal
circumstances. Some things
you need to check IF
YOU ARE EMPLOYED:
Employers' pension plans are always worth checking
first as they often have extra benefits, such as added contributions from your
employer, free life assurance or nil charges. - Does
your employer provide a pension plan?
- Are
you a member of your employer's pension plan?
- If
you are not a member, can you join now or after a brief period?
If
your employer does not provide a pension plan for you at the moment, they
may have to arrange for a Stakeholder pension to be available to you by October
2001. - Ask your employers
if they intend to arrange a new pension scheme for staff - it might be better
than an 'off-the-shelf' private pension that you arrange yourself.
IF
YOU ARE SELF-EMPLOYED:
Whether or not you have a personal pension plan,
you can still set up a Stakeholder Pension privately and benefit from tax rebates
on the contributions you pay in. IF
YOU HAVE NO FORM OF PAID EMPLOYMENT:
You can set up a new Stakeholder
pension plan and benefit from tax rebates on the contributions you pay in. EVERYBODY:
Do you have any other pension plan benefits? Check on the pension plans
you have contributed to in the past but no longer pay into today. You need to
have some idea of the retirement income you might get from an old pension plan.
Begin
Interactive Tool To find out more
and obtain a list of scheme providers, please visit Ask
Figaro. | 
