Budget  

What will the role of the financial adviser be?

This article is part of
Guide to pension tax and the Budget

Gallagher says: “Financial advisers will play a crucial role in helping clients navigate the changes to pension tax rules.

"Advisers may need to dedicate more time to support clients through the transition period. 

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“In addition, the possibility of the Labour Party reinstating the LTA, if elected, creates a window of opportunity for those with an LTA to access those benefits without an LTA charge. Financial advisers are already exploring this possibility for their clients.”

The role of a financial adviser, essentially, is tailoring a client's financial planning recommendations to meet the clients' short and long-term objectives.  

At Hargreaves Lansdown, Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis, says they are already seeing people take action to maximise their tax breaks on higher levels of contributions

"We will also see people maximising their pension pots just in case the LTA reappears," she adds.

 

Shaw says despite the changes leading to increased financial planning opportunities, she does not expect any immediate rush to make significant changes to a majority of client’s financial plans.

“However, I will certainly be looking to increase pension contributions for individuals and business owners who have capacity to do so," she adds.

This is because, due to the increase in corporation tax, tax planning for those companies affected will be a focus point and pension planning certainly has a significant role to play.

Shaw says: “When recommending investment into stocks and shares, a long-term view and investment horizon is required. 

“Where clients are below retirement age there is always a balancing act between investing within pensions for tax efficiency and maintaining accessibility to funds where there is a potential need for access prior to pension age in the future.”

Additionally, Cook says an individual may want to start to put more money into their pension to take advantage of the tax-efficient nature of the product, but they should not forget that while the LTA has been scrapped, arguably not much has changed from a tax-free cash point of view.

The limits on the amount of tax-free cash an individual can take in the 2022-23 and the 2023-24 tax year are essentially the same.

Cook says: "However, rather than limiting tax-free cash with reference to the LTA, we now have an upper monetary cap frozen at £268,275. Under the new rules, any additional funding to a pension over the previous LTA will not boost the amount of tax-free cash you can take out.