Pension planning that gives you a retirement worth working towards
Too many people arrive at retirement having saved hard but planned poorly — and end up with far less than they expected, paying far more tax than they needed to. Hulljady Chartered Accountants provides pension planning that is built around your real numbers, coordinated with your tax position, and reviewed every year so you stay on track.
WHAT WE DO
Pension planning services for individuals and business owners
From setting up your first pension to structuring a complex multi-pot retirement income, Hulljady provides pension advice that is always coordinated with your tax and accountancy work.
Director & Owner-Managed Business Pensions
For limited company directors, employer pension contributions are one of the most powerful tax planning tools available. We advise on the optimal contribution level — balancing corporation tax savings, personal tax efficiency, and the annual allowance — and ensure contributions are correctly structured and timed.
SIPP Planning & Management
Self-Invested Personal Pensions offer the greatest investment flexibility and are particularly well-suited to business owners who want control over how their pension is invested. We advise on SIPP suitability, contribution strategy, and — where appropriate — using a SIPP to purchase commercial property.
Pension Consolidation
Many clients accumulate multiple pensions from previous employments over their career — often with high charges, poor performance, and no coherent strategy. We review all existing arrangements, assess the case for consolidation, and recommend the most appropriate structure going forward.
Retirement Income Planning
How you take income from your pension is as important as how much you save. We model your retirement income across multiple scenarios — drawdown versus annuity, phased retirement, State Pension timing — and identify the most tax-efficient sequence for drawing from all your assets.
Annual Allowance & Carry-Forward
The annual pension allowance is £60,000, but unused allowance from the previous three tax years can be carried forward. For business owners with variable profits or a recent profitable year, this can represent a significant opportunity to make large, tax-efficient contributions. We calculate your available carry-forward and advise on the optimal contribution.
Pension & Inheritance Tax Planning
From April 2027, unspent pension funds will be included in the estate for IHT purposes for the first time. We help clients understand the implications of this change, review existing nomination of beneficiary arrangements, and integrate pension planning into a broader inheritance tax strategy.
KEY FIGURES
KEY ALLOWANCES & THRESHOLDS
2025/26 pension limits at a glance
Understanding the limits that govern pension contributions is essential for making the most of this valuable tax shelter — and for avoiding the significant penalties that apply when limits are breached.
Annual Allowance — £60,000 The maximum total pension input — including both employee and employer contributions — in a single tax year before a tax charge applies. High earners may face a tapered annual allowance reducing this figure.
Tapered Annual Allowance — From £10,000 Those with adjusted income over £260,000 face a reduced annual allowance, tapering down to a minimum of £10,000. This catches many senior employees and profitable business owners who are unaware of the restriction.
Money Purchase Annual Allowance — £10,000 Once you begin flexibly accessing your pension (via drawdown), your allowance for future money purchase contributions reduces permanently to £10,000. This is a critical planning consideration for anyone considering early drawdown.
Lifetime Allowance — Abolished The lifetime allowance — previously capping the total pension savings you could build without a tax charge — was abolished from April 2024. However, the lump sum allowance of £268,275 (the maximum tax-free cash available) remains in place.
Tax-Free Cash — Up to 25% Up to 25% of your pension fund can typically be taken as a tax-free lump sum, subject to the lump sum allowance. The timing of when you take this — and how much — has significant tax implications that we model carefully for every client.
Note: The tapered annual allowance, carry-forward rules, and the forthcoming IHT changes from April 2027 make pension planning considerably more complex for high earners and business owners than it is for the average saver. Getting this wrong is costly. Getting it right is transformative.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why pension planning matters more than most people realise
A pension is the most tax-efficient savings vehicle available to most UK taxpayers. Yet the majority of business owners, directors, and high earners consistently under-use it — often because nobody has ever explained how powerfully it interacts with their tax position.
Tax relief — Substantial
Every pound contributed to a pension attracts tax relief at your marginal rate. For a higher-rate taxpayer that means a £100 pension contribution costs just £60 after relief. For a company making employer contributions, the full amount is deductible against corporation tax.
Compound growth — Tax-free
Investments inside a pension grow free of income tax and capital gains tax. Over decades, this tax-free compounding produces dramatically better outcomes than equivalent savings held outside a pension wrapper.
Retirement income — Controlled
With the right drawdown strategy, you can take income from your pension in a way that minimises your tax bill in retirement — drawing from pension, ISA, and other sources in the most efficient sequence.
Estate planning — Valuable
ensions sit outside your estate for inheritance tax purposes. Leaving unspent pension funds to your beneficiaries can be one of the most tax-efficient ways to pass on wealth — though rules are changing from April 2027.
WHY HULLJADY
Pension advice that joins up with everything else
A pension does not exist in isolation. It interacts with your corporation tax bill, your income tax position, your IHT exposure, and your business exit plans. Most pension advisers see only part of that picture. Hulljady sees all of it.
Because our pension planning sits inside the same practice as your accounts, tax returns, and bookkeeping, our advice is always based on your real, current numbers — not estimates, not assumptions, not last year’s figures pulled from memory.
- Pension contributions planned alongside your corporation tax to maximise relief
- Retirement income modelled against your full tax position — not in isolation
- IHT implications of your pension reviewed as part of your estate plan
- Annual allowance and carry-forward calculated precisely, not estimated
- No product commissions — fee-based advice with no conflicts of interest
- Named chartered accountant who knows your business and personal finances
COMMON QUESTIONS
Pensions — frequently asked questions
How much should I be paying into my pension as a limited company director?
There is no single right answer, but the starting point is to understand how much you need in retirement, work backwards to identify the required fund, and then determine the most tax-efficient contribution level to reach it. For most directors, employer contributions paid directly from the company are the most efficient route — they reduce corporation tax, avoid income tax and National Insurance, and do not count as personal income. Hulljady models this individually for every director client.
Can my company pay into my pension directly?
Yes — and for most limited company directors this is the most tax-efficient approach. Employer contributions are fully deductible against corporation tax (subject to the wholly and exclusively test and the annual allowance), do not attract employer or employee National Insurance, and do not count as a personal contribution for income tax purposes. This makes company pension contributions one of the single most powerful tax planning tools available to owner-managed businesses.
What is carry-forward and how do I use it?
If you have not used your full annual pension allowance in one or more of the previous three tax years, you can carry that unused allowance forward and add it to this year's limit — potentially allowing contributions well in excess of £60,000 in a single year. This is particularly valuable for business owners who have had a profitable year and want to make a large one-off contribution. Hulljady calculates your precise carry-forward entitlement and advises on the optimal contribution level and timing.
What happens to my pension when I die?
Currently, unspent pension funds can be passed to your nominated beneficiaries free of inheritance tax — making the pension one of the most IHT-efficient assets you can hold. From April 2027, however, unspent pension funds will be brought into the estate for IHT purposes for the first time. This is a significant change that affects many clients' estate planning and nomination strategies. We are actively reviewing all pension clients' arrangements in light of this change.
Should I take an annuity or go into drawdown?
This depends entirely on your circumstances — your other income sources, your health, your appetite for investment risk, and how much certainty you want in retirement. Annuities provide a guaranteed income for life but are irreversible. Drawdown offers flexibility and the potential for your fund to continue growing, but requires ongoing management and carries investment risk. Many clients use a combination of both. Hulljady models both options against your full financial picture before making any recommendation.
I have several old workplace pensions — should I consolidate them?
Possibly, but not automatically. Consolidation can reduce charges, simplify management, and make retirement planning easier. However, some older pension schemes — particularly defined benefit (final salary) schemes — carry valuable guarantees that should not be given up lightly. We review each arrangement on its own merits, assess the charges, performance, and guarantees, and give you a clear recommendation before any transfers are made.
READY TO GET STARTED?
The best time to sort your pension was yesterday. The second best time is today.
Book a free, no-obligation consultation with one of our chartered accountants. We’ll review your existing pension arrangements, model what your retirement could look like, and show you exactly what a coordinated pension strategy could mean for your financial future.