March 1 2019 - Your average adult dedicates many decades of their life to work. While many are lucky enough to have a career they love, others work to save towards retirement. Within those few decades, many life events are going to happen that could affect your pension.

The pension advice specialists at Portafina have put together a few common life events that could happen to you, along with must-know tips regarding how it could positively or negatively impact your pension funds.

Divorce

Thousands of people take the exciting step of getting married every day. While most experience a blissful marriage, the reality is that, unfortunately, many don't make it to the finish line. You should, therefore, know the implications of divorce on your pension savings in case you ever face such a reality.

In a typical scenario, if you're married or in a civil partnership, your pension should be included in any financial settlement that occurs. You do have a lot of flexibility, however, in regards to how your pension is shared in the case of a settlement. You could consider pension sharing or offsetting so that the value of pensions is offset against other assets.

Being Made Redundant

It's an incredibly challenging situation in life when you are made redundant. It can take you by surprise, and it often happens at the worst time. However, you should know that this shouldn't affect your pension savings negatively and they should still be intact regardless. Moving forward, you have several options that you can explore with one being keeping it where it is and continuing with your personal contributions without your former employer. Alternatively, you could transfer your pension to an existing or new scheme if it proves to be more beneficial.

Falling Ill

Becoming unwell isn't something that is alien to people, especially as they begin ageing. You should know what happens to your pension in case this ever happens to you. More specifically, you want to know whether you'll be able to dip into your pension pot and access your funds.

For most providers, you typically aren't able to access your finds until 55, especially state funds. However, in some cases depending on the provider, you can access part or all of your pension before the agreed age. It is predicted that the age in which you can access your pension is due to rise over the years. You should follow Portafina's Facebook page for regular updates, nevertheless.

Moving Abroad

Another event that could affect your pension is moving abroad. This is an incredibly common path to take when you retire, with an estimated 4.5 and 5.5 million Brits living abroad. However, before moving overseas, be aware that this could affect how much access you have to your funds as well as disqualify you from tax relief in some cases.

You can visit Portafina Discovery a handy resource hub if you have further questions or wish to learn more about your pension. They also have lots of information on their social channels, YouTube, their twitter feed, @Portafina UK, and on LinkedIn.