Free Articles on Finance and many other topics
Another free Finance article for you by Ray Prince
Titled: UK General Practitioners: Your Pension Options Explained Get the Finance category RSS Feed

UK General Practitioners: Your Pension Options Explained

Article Summary: The subject of pensions appears to be in the news every week. With this can bring confusion, so in this article we look at how part time GP's can plan effectively for their retirement.

Copyright (c) 2006 Ray Prince

What a great time (for pensions) to be a part time General Practitioner!

The NHS recognises through various initiatives, such as “Improving Working Lives”, the importance of the work life balance. General Practices also need to encourage a GP to work for them, and will usually bend over backwards to accommodate the right doctor.

Perhaps it will not be a surprise to learn that 25% of all doctors work part time, with 50% of female doctors preferring reduced hours.

So, whether you are already or are planning to work part time for family reasons to help with childcare or simply deciding to slow down a bit in your fifties, a lot of factors are in your favour.

But what about the impact on your pension planning in general and your NHS Pension in particular?

Let’s remind ourselves of a few facts:

•A GP’s NHS Pension is based on the lifetime earnings, not simply the superannuable income the year before retirement.

•Broadly speaking if you work ¾ time it will take 4 calendar years for 3 years reckonable service to count for your pension.

•Any hospital years will be counted as GP years if to your advantage.

•There have been significant increases to the types of income that count as superannuable.

•Uplifts in pension calculations for 2003-2006 are substantial.

Pension A-Day

The changes to the general rules on pensions took effect from 6th April 2006. These changes are large and fundamental:

•There will be a fund size limit of £1.5 million, regardless of the type of plan you have – i.e. NHS – Added years - Personal Pension – Additional Voluntary Contributions etc.

•If you are projected to exceed this limit you may need to take action to protect your fund from a tax penalty.

One of the first steps is to calculate whether you will have an A-Day problem. If your NHS Pension is likely to be £65,000 pa or over and you are retiring this year, you may exceed the £1.5m limit (it’s possible to exceed the limit even if your pension is below that amount).

The Whole Picture

When it comes to planning for your retirement, you should make sure you are looking at your whole situation, including wills and estate planning, and assessing how much money you’ll need when you give up work. Most of our clients simply want to know whether or not their money will last them for the rest of their lives.

When calculating how much pension you’ll have you should remember to take account of:

•Proceeds of practice sale or downsizing
•Lump sums and investments
•Inheritances
•State Pensions

Measurement

Retirement planning is not just about pension policies. On many occasions a new client will learn that they will pay 40% tax in retirement. This may be because they have had no real measurement to plan effectively, and have simply amassed a number of policies.

What action should a part time GP take to plan ahead?

•Obtain your NHS Pension projection from the NHS Pension Agency

•Obtain your State Pension projection from the post office (BR19)

•Request private pension arrangements projections

•Assess your investment wealth from Isas and Peps etc

•Use a detailed expenditure template to work out what you really need

•Even then, will you spend less after age 75?

•Create a strategy that you can revisit every year and use it to measure where you are compared to where you want to be

Summary

Planning ahead is one of the most important elements of retirement planning. Take the time to get your personal strategy on course, and then it'll simply be a case of reviewing the plan on an annual basis.

Article Source: http://www.upublish.info

About the Author:
Ray Prince
Ray Prince is an Independent Financial Planner with Rutherford Wilkinson plc, and helps UK Resident Doctors and Dentists get the best deals on mortgages, protection and investments, as well as helping them achieve their financial objectives. Just visit http://www.medicaldentalfs.com/article to get your free retirement guide. Rutherford Wilkinson plc is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.