Pensions

With retirements potentially lasting 30 years or more, the basic State Pension for those having reached state pension age on or after 6th April 2016 is £164.35 per week (2018/19 tax year). The actual amount will depend on your National Insurance payment record and whether you contracted out of the additional State Pension. This amount is generally considered insufficient income to maintain a desirable lifestyle throughout the post-retirement years.

Automatic Enrolment

In 2012, the Government brought about the biggest and most radical changes to pension reform in generations with auto-enrolment. Under the new regulations, employers are now required to enrol all eligible employees into a qualifying pension plan and make contributions into it.

Eligibility criteria are as follows:

• Employee is aged between 22 and the State Pension retirement age
• Employee earns more than £10,000 per year
• Employee is working, or ordinarily works, in the UK

Employers will be required to contribute a set percentage of each employee’s eligible earnings into each pension and the Government has set a minimum percentage that must be contributed in total (i.e. the employer’s contribution, the employee’s contribution and the tax relief).

Pension Funds

A pension is a tax efficient method of enhancing an employee’s income in retirement. It is increasingly being viewed as a highly desirable employee benefit.

Pension funds grow largely free of all UK taxes. At retirement, the employee can take up to 25% of their accumulated fund as a tax-free lump sum with the remaining fund being used to secure an income.

Our experienced pensions experts will help you to understand the financial implications of auto-enrollment. We will also recommend and implement the most appropriate pension scheme, and assist with your strategy for communicating the changes to employees.

For more information about automatic enrollment and its wide-reaching implications for employers and employees, please visit: www.vintagecorporate.co.uk, call the team on 020 8371 5232 or email: info@vintagecorporate.co.uk