How can I pay less tax in retirement?

The key to Retirement Planning is to have a plan before the day you ‘hang your keys up’! Many people who are about to retire have pension arrangements that can provide up to 25% of the plan value tax free.

Tax Free Cash

Drawing the maximum amount of tax-free cash on day one is attractive and might be the right thing to do, especially if you have an immediate need for a lump sum of money. You might want to pay off a mortgage, a loan, or take the holiday of a lifetime. If you do take all the tax-free cash straight away, your remaining fund can provide an income, which may be taxable depending on your circumstances. It might be possible to draw a further lump sum again, which is potentially non-taxable, but this will depend on your on circumstances.

If a large lump sum is taken but not required for anything in particular, it might end up in a Bank or Building Society account earning very little interest. It was tax free but might end up being virtually interest free as well!

Under these situations, it might have been better leaving all or some of the tax-free cash in the pension to be taken when it could do more good. Typically, this might be when there is enough income coming in from other pensions, an ongoing salary, investment returns or rental income.

Suppose a requirement for extra income is required (maybe an alternative source of funding dries up). It is possible to draw down an income comprising 25% tax free and 75% taxable. If you remain a basic rate taxpayer, based on other income, the new income may be effectively taxed at 15% rather than 20%.

Professional Advice

If a tax free lump sum is required later and there is still enough tax free value in the plan, provided it has been maintained in a flexible arrangement it may be possible to draw on that and reduce your reliance on taxable income. It should be noted that not all arrangements do this automatically, which is why professional retirement planning advice is so valuable. This requires there being tax free cash within the pension arrangement to draw on, a plan that supports flexible drawdown, plus a complete understanding of your tax situation and requirements.

To explore the possibilities of paying less tax in retirement, contact us at Brooks Wealth for a free initial consultation.

Eamonn Dorling Dip PFS, Senior Independent Financial Adviser, Brooks Wealth Management