SJP Status of pension
A lot can happen in a few years and it’s important to regularly review your retirement objectives, especially if you have changed jobs as you move through your career.
Your personal circumstances can also impact your future retirement plans, such as taking a career break, raising a family, buying or moving house, marriage or divorce, or changes to your health.
So, if you are looking for information on what you should be focusing on with your retirement plans, the following pages should help, or contact us to find a St. James’s Place adviser near you.
The value of a pension with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.
How to check if your pension is on track
Knowing where all your pensions are, and reviewing their performance means you’re well on the way to a secure and comfortable retirement. And it’s a very important part of retirement financial planning. Finding out if your pension is on track should be top of your financial to-do list, about ten years ahead of when you’re hoping to retire.
Why keep checking your pensions? Because life doesn’t stand still. Since you took out that pension or pensions, you may have changed jobs, had a career break to raise children, moved house, got divorced or remarried. All of which can impact your retirement income plans. After a lifetime of work, you don’t deserve to fall short of your ambitions.
How do I check my pension?
To check how your pensions are doing, you need to check that you know where all of them are, and whether they’re Defined Contribution or Defined Benefit pensions.
With an older pension, you might want to adjust the level of any contributions you’re still making if your salary has increased.
You should receive an annual statement telling you how your pension – workplace or personal– is performing. If you already have a pension through SJP, you can ask your financial adviser at any time how your investment is doing, or use the SJP App to check in. This will also tell you your mix of funds and where you’re invested.
If you’re saving through a workplace pension, then you may be contributing a percentage of your salary, which helps keep pace with salary earnings. If you decide to top up, check if your employer will pay in more too.
If you’re self-employed and your cash flow fluctuates, you should check whether you’re on track or you’ve fallen behind and need to top up. If you’re self-employed but haven’t got a pension yet, we can help you choose the best one for you.
How much do I need to save in my pension?
We estimate that by your 50s, you should have six to seven times your annual salary saved in your pension. The cost of a comfortable retirement is now estimated to be between £43,900 per year for an individual, or £60,600 for a two-person household, according to the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA)*. Reviewing your pensions regularly will tell you if you should top up if possible.
Can I find a lost pension?
There may be as much as £31.1 billion sitting in unclaimed pension posts, according to the PLSA. If you’ve changed jobs a few times over your career, you may well have several lost or forgotten pensions. Those smaller, older pension pots could be larger than you think.
If you’re not sure whether you had a pension with a previous employer, or you can’t recall who your pensions were with, the Pension Tracing Service is a free service to help. Go to www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details to get started. You could get a pleasant surprise!
The government is currently proposing changes to the pensions legislation to make it easier for people to track down smaller pension pots, but you or your financial adviser can initiate a search yourself.
Will a career break affect my pension?
If you’re planning a career break, or you’ve taken one and are about to return to work, it’s prudent to see what effect that’s had on your pension. If you paused contributions during a break, you could consider topping back up and if possible ‘filling in any gaps’ in your NI contributions, both of which are easy to do if you can afford to.
If you’re about to go on parental leave, or a career break, it’s worth knowing that, in most cases, anyone can pay into your pension. You can still make contributions up to £3,600 gross and benefit from basic rate tax relief at 20%, even if you have no current earnings, or your earnings are below this figure.
Planning how, and when, you can make up any shortfall in your pension contributions is an important part of your long-term financial planning. Just give us a call and we’ll help you figure it out.
The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.
The levels and bases of taxation and reliefs from taxation can change at any time. The value of any tax relief depends on individual circumstances.
* Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, Retirement Living Standards report developed in partnership with Loughborough University Research faculty 2024.
Your pension review list
- Do you know where all your pensions are?
- Have you checked their performance in the last three years and discussed with your financial adviser?
- Has your income risen since you started the pension and should you up any contributions?
- Has your family or financial situation changed in the last three years?
- Have you had any career breaks, or gaps in your NI contributions?
