Here at Citizens Advice Manchester, our Pension Wise team supports clients to find out what their pension options are. In this blog post, we meet Liam, one of our Pension Wise Guiders. 

What is your role at CAM?

I’m a Pension Wide Guider, which means I offer pension guidance to people contacting CAM. Our team are guiders, not financial advisers, so our role is to inform people of their options regarding their pensions, and what the implications are on taxation, benefits, debts etc.  

Pensions can seem very complicated to the average person, especially since there are rules and regulations about accessing your pension pots. Most people don’t understand their options, but with our support they are empowered to work out the best route for them.

Since the pandemic, phone and video appointments have been allocated nationally, so the clients we speak to can be from all over the country - sometimes even living abroad.

What sort of issues does the Pension Wise team help people with? 

Pension Wise is a completely free service accessible to people aged 50+.  

The pension owner must be over 50 to access Pension Wise guidance, so most of our clients are planning for retirement. However, we do receive calls from people who have inherited pensions from their parents or grandparents and have no idea what their options are for accessing the money.

With each client, we’ll go through the options available to them and make sure the information is as clear as possible. Since new pension options were introduced in 2015, there’s a lot more flexibility and it’s important that people have all the information so that they can make their own decisions. 

Sometimes clients have done research before they contact us and they just want to check that what they’ve read is correct. They may be planning for retirement and want to work out what their pension will be, as well as check implications, for example on tax relief or benefits.  

Some clients may be looking to draw from their pension - either they’ve reached retirement or they’ve been made redundant and need to access that money. We can help them to understand what that will mean for their income.

With some clients, we’ll signpost them to accountants, tax professionals, financial advisers, and even CAM’s own advisers. At the end of the appointment, we’ll go over the client’s next steps to make sure they’ve understood the information given to them.

How has COVID-19 affected the type of issues the team has been helping clients with?

We’re getting a lot more calls from people who have been furloughed or made redundant and want to access their pensions earlier than planned. They’re in difficult financial situations and often want to cash in small pensions to help them in the short term. Some people think of a pension like a saving pot - however, it’s best for people to come and speak to us rather than go ahead and access their pension without guidance, as there are implications for tax and future contributions into their pensions.

What do you enjoy most about working for CAM? 

The team is brilliant - we’re the outliers in CAM as what we do is so different. But in CAM everyone helps each other and we’re all driven by helping our clients, whatever their circumstances.

When they come to us for pension guidance, most people find out at least a few things they weren’t aware of.  We’re the experts in pension options and can help clients make an informed decision, which is more likely to be a better decision. 

What do you enjoy doing outside work?

I like spending time with nieces and nephews and socialising. I used to be very into sports, coaching cricket and rugby league. Now I enjoy watching horse racing (I’ve been going since I was about 12) and rugby league.

If you’re over 50 and need pension guidance, book an appointment here.