Arranging a pension to provide a comfortable annual income

We were approached in the summer of 2012 to offer advice to Mr Miller in relation to the benefits he should take from his Fujitsu Pension. He was of the opinion that he would be better off taking his maximum tax free cash and a smaller income.  This is the outcome that most individuals elect to take. 

As part of the planning process we identified that Mr Miller did not need all of the income that he had available to him nor did he need all of the tax free cash that was on offer. 

At the time Mr Miller had a property valued at £250,000 and other savings which totalled £60,000. 

Having written to the pension provider we realised that his pension fund was valued at £900,000 a sum which was almost 4 times as much as what he previously thought was his biggest asset, his home. 

We discussed the benefits available from the scheme and what impact death would have. His wife would only receive half of his pension and after her demise, his children would not benefit. 

We made Mr Miller aware of how benefits both to him and his family, wife, children and grandchildren would work should he look to take benefits from outside of the scheme. Mr Miller then recognised that he only needed £25,000 per annum which would be sufficient to live comfortably. We arranged his pension so that he now draws this £25,000 and the remaining fund will after his death pass on to his nearest and dearest and continue to benefit his children and grandchildren in the years to come. 

In the winter of 2013 Mr Miller suffered an unexpected heart attack, this immediately made his wife realise how important the planning exercise done the year previous was. As the fund was also managed by Bartholomew Hawkins, it is now valued at over a £1.1million, so his legacy will live on for years to come.