Whatever your age, professional advice can make a big difference to the quality of life you enjoy when you retire. Retirement planning is a complex area, and we can help you to choose the right plan to suit your personal circumstances. We can also guide you through the various options you have on retirement. The earlier you start putting money aside to provide for a comfortable retirement, the better. But even later in life, there are still a number of options to choose from. When your pension matures, there's the question of how to make the best use of the money that's been accumulated and whether to opt for an annuity, open market option or pension drawdown.

Your retirement will hopefully last for 20 or 30 years or more. You will need a substantial fund of money to support yourself over such a long period and the basic state pension is not enough to provide the standard of living most people want. To provide a good standard of living, you will need another source of retirement income as well.

Putting money aside for retirement is one of the biggest commitments most people make. It's important not to make a rushed decision. You need to think carefully about what type of pension or investment plan will work best for you.

The information in this section gives an introduction to pensions and some of the things you will need to consider about the benefits of saving through a pension.

From April 2006, a number of changes are due to be introduced that aim to simplify occupational and private pensions.