Tax efficiently meeting your income and lifestyle expectations

Maximising a client’s position in retirement is all about forward planning, considering the client’s likely short, medium and long term capital and income requirements and structuring their affairs to ensure that their income and lifestyle expectations can be met, as tax efficiently as possible.

The position of dependants and other beneficiaries often need to be considered, as does the need to protect the value of income from the long term impact of inflation.

The planning process should ideally start some months or years before retirement. Financial Planners will often encourage clients to carry out an analysis of their expenditure, in order to put their likely future income requirements into context.

Our team of retirement planning specialists help clients to consider the following relevant issues:

• How to maximise the selling price of their business and minimise any liability to tax on any chargeable gain arising
• How to deal with any outstanding borrowing
• Whether to ‘commute’ (i.e. take as tax free cash) as part of their pension benefits
• Should a client’s pension benefits be consolidated and, if so, into what product?
• How should the client’s capital be invested, in order to achieve the required level of income, whilst managing risk and minimising tax?
• What level of risk does the client need to take in order to achieve their required lifestyle?
• Will the client have sufficient capital to last them throughout their retirement and would cashflow forecasting be appropriate?
• Does the client have a valid will? If so, does it reflect the client’s wishes and is it efficient from a tax planning point of view?
• Is it possible to receive an income from their pension fund whilst the client continues to work?
• What steps can be taken to ensure that the client doesn’t lose their entitlement to age allowance?
• Does the client need to retain life assurance or other protection benefits into their retirement?
• Following the sale of any exempt business assets, what steps can be taken to mitigate a client’s potential liability to inheritance tax?