The gloomy among us keep repeating that a difficult retirement lies ahead for us all unless we get saving now, but what percentage of us truly understand what an annuity is and what we want to do to ensure a comfortable retirement.

A pension is essentially just a long term savings plan and its sole purpose is to provide you with a safe retirement revenue. Fundamentally a little money gets squirelled away each month throughout your working life and by retirement this should have built into a tidy sum.

That sum is then most widely used to get a pension which may pay you back a fixed regular amount maybe monthly and thereby support your lifestyle well into old age.

To assist you the Government provides tax breaks on contributions. For instance in the UK basic rate tax payers take home £80 for each £100 earned not including national insurance. If that £80 is then placed in an annuity the Government rebates the £20 tax paid allowing the full £100 to be invested.

Popular nowadays is the taking of an early pension lump sum payment after review by a professional pension adviser.

Obtaining an early pension lump sum TAX FREE is only available if you are at least 55 years of age, however having your pension professionally reviewed at any time is worthwhile.

For a FREE pension review, simply complete the form opposite.