79% of the public are mystified by pensions

79% of the public are mystified by pensions according to research published by Halifax Financial Services.

The pensions survey was published to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the basic state pension which was introduced in 1908.

Out of the 2000 people surveyed, 79% were confused by the basics of their pension and had no idea when they would receive it or how it would be paid. Sadly, even more people are confused about their options at retirement with 83% having no idea how much tax free cash they could take from their pension fund.

It is important to have a sound understanding of your financial affairs even if part of the pension is provided by the government. Having a level of knowledge will help you to plan for retirement and assess how much income you are likely to receive.

Those people who want to maintain a good standard of living in retirement need to ensure their pension planning will meet those requirements by taking pensions advice.

An independent financial adviser will be able to take a detailed look into your pension affairs. The IFA will provide an estimate of what your current pension arrangements will produce and then devise a plan of how this can be improved on.

As with all long term savings, it is important to regularly check and review the performance to see if everything is ‘on track’.

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