With Director & Chartered Financial Planner (Fellow) at Active Financial Planners, Paul Gibson.
This month we came across some research that will be of interest to a number of our clients and professional contacts, particularly those that are self-employed.
According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) just 25% of self-employed people are actively contributing to a private pension. There are 4.5million self-employed people in the UK, making up more than 15% of the UK’s workforce. The ONS data, published in February 2018, showed that the number of self-employed saving into a pension has considerably dropped since 2008, when it was 40%.
“At Active Financial Planners, in 2017, just 17% of pension cases were for the self-employed. For employed people, auto enrolment has made saving in to a pension much easier, but self-employed clients often still prioritise investing in their business rather than saving for their retirement” comments Paul Gibson
“Saving for your retirement whatever your occupation is vitally important, but there are incentives for the self-employed to make contributions in to their pension, including tax relief, which could reduce their working lives by a number of years.”
The ONS also recently published more data on the self-employed, revealing the divide when it comes to private pension wealth between employees and the self-employed. In the 35 to 54 age group, a huge 45.1% of the self-employed do not have any private pension wealth, compared with just 16.4% of employees. For the 55 and above age group, the number is lower, at 30.3% (of the self-employed) having no private pension wealth, compared with 14.2% of employees.
For further details on how Active Financial Planners could help plan your retirement, speak to your adviser on 01642 765957 or visit the website
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A pension is a long-term investment, the fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available.
This is a financial promotion. The content of this blog is for information only and must not be considered as financial advice. We always recommend that you seek independent financial advice before making any financial decisions.
