{"id":590,"date":"2018-04-17T05:14:05","date_gmt":"2018-04-17T04:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/evolvemyretirement.com\/blog\/?p=590"},"modified":"2018-05-08T05:43:35","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T04:43:35","slug":"retirement-fund-pension-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evolvemyretirement.com\/blog\/retirement-fund-pension-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Retirement Fund Is More Than Your Pension Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t get me wrong. Saving into a personal pension plan is one of the best ways to build your retirement fund. Not only do you get tax relief on what goes in, but it\u2019s safely locked away until you\u2019re at least 55 years old. And then there\u2019s the 25% tax-free lump sum to look forward to.<\/p>\n

However, many articles and online calculators equate pension savings with retirement savings. You might get the impression that you have to generate all<\/em> your retirement income from your pension plan, and that other assets are purely for other things. This is the wrong way of looking at things.<\/p>\n

Should You Always Save Via A Pension Plan?<\/h2>\n

In the past, the answer to this question used to be much easier: it was almost invariably \u201cyes\u201d. The tax relief advantage made it a no-brainer. Nowadays, you need to take into account not only annual allowances, which have reduced a lot, but also lifetime allowances. Both of these limit by how much you can, or should, fund your pension plan. If you\u2019re on a low to moderate income, then it\u2019s quite possible that these allowances won\u2019t affect you. In that case, you should probably divert all your long-term savings into your pension plan.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a higher earner, you may need to be careful not to over-fund your pension plan. It might be that you\u2019ll need to use some other form of long-term investments. This could include an ISA, a LISA (if you\u2019re young enough), buy-to-let properties, unit trusts, etc. Some of these will offer tax advantages. Some may tie up your money more than others.<\/p>\n

What Does Your Retirement Fund Consist Of?<\/h2>\n

\"home-retirement-fund\"<\/p>\n

When you actually retire, your net worth will probably include a broad mixture of assets. These could include not only your pension plan and other financial investments, but also your home if you own it. All of these can contribute to your retirement fund in different ways:<\/p>\n