Scottish Life launches retirement age change guide for IFAs

Scottish Life has launched an information pack to help advisers make the most of changes to the minimum retirement age in 2010.

The minimum age at which someone can begin to decumulate their pension savings is currently 50, but will rise to 55 from April 6 next year.

Scottish Life is providing support to advisers, including case studies, planning tools and client facing materials to help them handle the needs of affected clients.

The change will have a major impact on those aged 49 to 54, as they may be able to begin accessing their pension entitlements before April 6 2010, but will be forced to wait up to five years if they delay.

Scottish Life says this the next few months will be challenging for clients, but offers advisers a great opportunity to demonstrate the value of their service by ensuring their clients are not caught out by the change.
Chris Peat, individual business marketing manager at Scottish Life, says: "We want to help IFAs maximise the opportunity this change presents by giving them the appropriate tools.

"We have created sample letters and an unbranded client leaflet, so that IFAs can use the material to target clients within the relevant group. We've also created a simple planning tool on our website, to help IFAs identify the opportunities, key messages and solutions to discuss with their clients."