n. Pension: a fixed amount, other than wages, paid at regular intervals to a person or to the person's surviving dependents in consideration of past services, age, merit, poverty, injury or loss sustained, etc.: a retirement pension.

At McFarlane and Partners we address the topic of retirement planning in a more holistic way than most IFA practices.

Obviously pensions are and will always be, a very important component within the sphere of ensuring you have enough money to retire on however we also discuss other possible vehicles. These could be the building and subsequent sale of your own business; it could be from a second or third investment property or indeed a comprehensive property portfolio.

If you are in a position where much of your earnings are paid as lump sum bonuses we can help construct investment portfolios specifically for the purpose of your retirement plan.

If there is an inheritance that will have a major impact on you future financial situation, this has to be taken into consideration.

Returning however to pensions, this is an area where we have extensive expertise, whether it be advising on starting from scratch in terms of type of contract applicable to the individual or suitable contribution levels.

We also conduct for clients an extensive review of existing and previous arrangements to ascertain whether or not they are still in the right places.

In summary we can advise on all aspects of retirement planning and help to create a plan for your future that is easily understood and achievable.