There are a range of choices and options available when it comes to setting realistic retirement goals.

NFU Mutual can provide expert financial advice to help you make decisions based on your current circumstances and needs in retirement, or you can choose your own retirement plan with one of their pension.

Whether you are looking for advice on how to invest for retirement or wanting to better understand how and when to take your pension benefits, NFU Mutual advisers can help point you in the right direction.

Investing for children

Many families want to give their children or grandchildren a head start for their future finances.

It may be towards university costs, first step on the housing ladder or even an investment to help with their retirement.

There are lots of options available to help give your children a flying start including:

Select Pension Plan

- For every £80 contributed a further £20 will be added in tax relief. This is a long-term investment giving children a head start.

- Invest up to £2,880 per child each tax year and HMRC will top this up with a further £720 to give an investment of £3,600.

- As they get into their 20’s and 30’s they will already have a fund they can build on.

Get the best income in your retirement

Retirement is a time to reap the rewards of years of hard work and do more of the things that you love, whether that’s getting stuck into a favourite hobby or spending time with your grandchildren.

To make this a reality, you need to prepare as well as you can financially. This isn’t always easy, as pensions and retirement planning can be complex.

To help you ensure you’re on the right track, below are seven of our top tips for pension planning, which are particularly pertinent for people in their forties or early fifties. Remember, expert help is available to you from a professional financial adviser, should you need it for some of life’s bigger decisions.

  • Work out your minimum desired retirement income
  • Do you know how much money you’ll need to live on in retirement?
  • Take stock of your pension savings
  • Decide on your retirement journey
  • Consider your attitude to risk
  • Make the most of help from the tax man
  • Use your pension allowances from previous years
  • Avoid costly pension issues

Income for life

With many seeking to ensure a continued income in retirement, one option is to buy an annuity - providing an income for the rest of your life or for a fixed term.

You can buy an annuity with some, or all, of the pension fund you’ve built up, to make sure you’ve got a reliable income for the future. There are different types of pension annuity to consider and various factors will affect your income, including:

  • Your age
  • Your health
  • Interest rates
  • The type of annuity you choose
  • Whether you take 25% of your fund as a tax free cash sum*
  • Whether you provide a continuing income for a partner/dependants

Whatever type you buy, it is designed to provide you with a pension income. You don’t have to buy it from your current pension provider – what you get from different providers will vary, so it’s important to shop around.

Expert financial advice might help you to decide whether taking a guaranteed income for life is right for you. We can help you to access a panel of annuity providers made up of companies we know and trust.

Or for more advice on shopping around, you can visit the Money and Pensions Service. Most importantly, depending on your health and lifestyle, you may be able to get a higher rate as a result.

*In most cases you can take 25% of your pension fund as a lump sum. The maximum tax free cash you can take across all your pensions is £268,275 unless you have registered for 'lifetime allowance protection'.