Pension planning for tomorrow, today...

THE future may seem far away. Regardless of your retirement goals, there are things you can do to increase your chances of success. It is important to look objectively at your plans and adapt them as your priorities change over the years and you go through different life events.

Your retirement will be as individual as you are and it may arrive earlier than you had anticipated.

Time really does fly. Planning ahead is almost certainly going to give you more choice and freedom and pensions can be the most tax efficient way to save for your retirement.

Most UK taxpayers receive tax relief on their pension contributions, which means that the Government effectively adds money to your pension pot.

Basic rate tax relief: The pension scheme administrator will claim the basic rate tax relief for you from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). With basic rate Income Tax at 20%, for every £80 you pay into the pension plan you receive basic tax relief of £20 which is also paid into your plan. The total amount paid into the plan is therefore £100.

Intermediate, higher or top rate tax payers may be able to claim further tax relief from HMRC. If you are eligible for further tax relief on your payments, you can ask HMRC to change your tax code by contacting them or you can complete a Self- Assessment Tax Return after the tax year has ended.

The Government introduced auto-enrolment as a way of helping employees save for retirement. It means that employers must automatically enrol certain staff into a workplace pension scheme. When you pay into a workplace pension, your employer and the Government also contribute. The amount paid depends on your employer’s pension scheme and your earnings, but minimum contribution rates are set.

Unlike other ways of saving, a workplace pension means you aren’t the only one putting money in. Your employer has to contribute too, as long as you earn over £6,240 a year. You will also receive a contribution from the Government in the form of tax relief. This means some of your money that would have gone to the Government as income tax, goes into your workplace pension instead.

You and your employer must pay a percentage of your earnings into your workplace pension scheme. The earnings trigger is one of the three key factors which ultimately governs who gets enrolled into a workplace pension scheme through automatic enrolment (the existing threshold is £10,000 for the tax year 2020/21, which runs from 6 April to 5 April the following year).

Under auto-enrolment schemes, you make contributions based on your total earnings between £6,240 (Lower limit qualifying earnings band) and £50,000 (Upper limit qualifying earnings band) a year before tax.

From April 2019 the amount of total minimum contributions increased to 8% – your employer will contribute 3% and you will contribute 5%. These amounts could be higher for you or your employer because of your pension scheme rules. They’re higher for most Defined Benefit pension schemes. In some schemes, your employer has the option to pay in more than the legal minimum. In these schemes, you can pay in less as long as your employer puts in enough to meet the total