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Retirement advice

Retirement advice

Start your retirement with confidence, how and when you want to

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Why take retirement advice?

Retirement is a significant milestone in life. You need to make sure your finances can support you and the lifestyle you want before giving up work.

Your retirement adviser will help you prepare your pension and wider finances so that you can retire on your terms. They will shoulder the burden so you can focus on what you want your retirement to look like, and they’ll come up with a plan to help you get there.

After taking retirement advice you’ll know:

  • How to get your pension ready for the retirement you want
  • Where to invest your pension to meet your goals
  • The ways to access your pension which are suitable for you
  • How much money you’ll need during your retirement and how to cover it
  • How your plans fit in with your spouse or dependants where needed

Your pension or pensions are likely to be the main means of making your retirement a reality. From the State Pension to Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs), each type carries its own set of guarantees, features and benefits. Retirement planning can help you understand how to use your pensions to achieve your retirement goals. But we can also offer specific Pension Advice. We’ll help you review your investments, explore the risks and benefits of consolidation, explain how to use your pensions tax efficiently and explain how you’ll be taxed when taking income from your pension. However, we are not tax advisers so for complex tax calculations we may suggest you speak with an accountant.

Our retirement advisers’ qualifications

All advisers must have a diploma in financial planning (or equivalent) which is recognised by the Financial Conduct Authority and complete training and development each year to keep their knowledge up to date.

The majority of our retirement advisers’ qualifications are awarded by the Chartered Institute of Insurers (CII) and they are members of the Personal Finance Society (PFS).

Rest assured all our advisers are fully qualified to advise you on retirement, and are based across the country so you can speak to someone nearby.

Retirement advice near you

Cost of retirement advice

Our financial advisers typically charge 1-2% (+VAT where applicable, minimum charges apply) of the assets advised upon for complex areas such as retirement advice.

We don’t believe in tying people into yearly reviews so with HL you can choose one-off advice. For an extra charge, ongoing advice is available on a yearly basis if you request it or you can come back to us in future if your circumstances change.

Our advisers will always look at your circumstances and plans as a whole before giving retirement planning recommendations.

See the charges

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Please note: Advice on the transfer of any secured benefit, such as a defined benefit pension (a final salary pension), will be subject to a separate charging structure. Read more on our charges.

Beware of pension and investment scams

Fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated, and are targeting people who've withdrawn, or plan to withdraw, money from their pension and other accounts. Scams can include free pension & investment reviews, the chance to release money early, and they can even persuade people to transfer their pension as part of an investment scam. These scams tend to involve firms and/or investments which aren’t regulated by the FCA, so if you fall victim to them there may be no compensation available. Visit our pension scam hub to find out how to spot a scam, what to do to avoid them, and who to contact if you think you’ve been scammed.

Learn about pension scams

Speak to our advisory helpdesk to get started

We ask that you speak to our advisory helpdesk to start your financial advice journey. They’re here to answer any outstanding questions you have about our advice service. They won’t provide personalised advice but if you’re happy, they’ll put you in touch with an adviser within two working days to arrange your initial consultation.

Your adviser will also double check you’re comfortable with the service you’ve chosen, that you’re getting the advice you need and understand the charges involved.

If our financial advice service isn’t right for you, we’ll point you in the direction of HL’s helpful information. The government’s free and impartial Pension Wise service is a good place to start to help you understand your retirement options.

Please note: we can only provide advice to UK residents. If you’re resident overseas, unfortunately we’re unable to advise you.

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