A no-obligation pension review? What is that?

Following the initial check and if your pension meets our minimum criteria, we may feel that your pension and retirement pot would benefit from our full no-obligation review service. The full pension review will include an in-depth, personalised report and advice calls with our experts to assess your pensions.

The full review service will deliver advice and recommendations on any changes that may help you to achieve your retirement goals or a better pension that is more suitable for your needs. We believe that pension and retirement advice should not be just for the rich; everyone would benefit from a little guidance and advice to make their retirement that more comfortable.

If following our advice and report, you wish for us to implement our advice, then our competitive charges would apply.

Why should you review your pension?

It is vitally important to review your pension regularly to ensure it’s growing and still right for your circumstances. The pension provider market changes continuingly with new products coming onto the market, with potentially lower rate charges, more flexibility and more investment choices, including ethical fund options.

If you have changed jobs recently and had an old workplace pension as part of your salary package, then it could be a good idea to get this pension assessed, alongside any others you may have. Workplace pensions are set-up for the benefit of your employer and their workforce, but this pension might not be the best for you.

Pension consolidation may also be an option you could consider. Read more about pension consolidation.

It’s not too late to start saving into a pension.

Even if you have not got a personal pension, it’s never too late to start saving into a pension. A pension is one of the most tax-efficient ways of saving for the future, and depending on your attitude to financial risk, could be a secure investment option.

If you can only afford to save a small amount each month, over a few years, your pension fund could make your retirement that little bit easier and supplement any state pension income you may receive.

Were you thinking about retiring in a couple of years?

As you move through your career, your attitude to financial risk will probably change. Early in your career, you could be looking for a private pension that offers higher growth, but that usually comes with higher risk. As you move closer to retirement, though, you should be looking to secure your funds and moving your pension into a lower risk fund could be a good option. Yes, you may not get the same high growth rate, but with a lower risk, actively managed fund, you could protect yourself if the markets dip or the economy goes into recession.

By getting a no-obligation pension review, your adviser can quickly identify if your pension is suitable for your risk appetite.

What does a no-obligation pension check mean?

A no-obligation pension review means that you will receive an initial basic pension report free of charge. With Hilltop Finance, if we think your pension would benefit from a full review, our experts will carry that out for you for free and without obligation also. If your funds meet our criteria for a full review, the minimum you will receive is:

• The basic details of your pensions, including their value, charges, growth rate and comparisons with the market.
• Two in-depth calls with a pension expert to assess your current financial and personal circumstances, including what you want to achieve, both now and in the future.
• Recommendations and advice from a fully trained expert, clearly detailing how any suggested changes to your pension could help to meet your agreed objectives.
• An explanation of any benefits you might lose by transferring away from your current provider and how the recommended changes could compensate for this.
• A quote for how much it will cost you to implement these changes.

Even if your pension does not meet our minimum criteria, we will still provide a findings sheet that will detail what we have found out from your pension providers, including up-to-date valuations.

Who should I speak with for a no-obligation pension review?

It would be best if you always used an FCA authorised and regulated financial advisers. We would always suggest looking for independent advisers like Hilltop Finance, as we can check your pension across the market to find the best deal for you. The alternative, a ‘Restricted’ adviser, means they may only search the providers that they are linked to or a small selected panel. Whilst this does not mean they will give bad advice; it does mean that they cannot check across the UK pension market to find the right deal for you.

Hilltop Finance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, number 787803 and enjoys a 4.7 out of 5 ratings on Trustpilot.

For client reviews on our service, please click here.

How do I know if it’s time to check my pension?

A pension is a long-term savings product. Like all investment and savings products, each provider and product could have different management charges, growth rates and guarantees that all could affect the retirement pot you can build up. As you would do with an ISA or savings account, it is worth regularly checking the amount you’re paying for your pension and if it is growing at a comparable rate against its benchmarks.

If you don’t have a financial adviser that is checking the performance of your funds at least annually, we’d suggest that you take action today and start a free, no-obligation pension review.

Find out more about our pension review service, or call us today on 0161 413 7051 and speak with our team.