NHS Pensions and employee benefits

At Azets Wealth Management, we have a specialist knowledge of NHS pensions and benefits.

NHS Pensions and employee benefits

Expert NHS Pension Advice

Tailored guidance on NHS pensions and employee benefits.

Retirement Planning Tools

Cashflow modelling and tax advice for comprehensive retirement planning.

Comprehensive Protection Plans

Critical illness, income protection, and life assurance advice included.

Full-Service Financial Support

Access to broader services for personal and business needs.

With our in-depth understanding, we can offer you expert advice specific to your individual circumstances on:

Retirement planning

There comes a time when you stop working for your money and put your money to work for you. For most people, this happens at retirement, and the decisions you make at this stage could have repercussions for the rest of your life.

You may be approaching retirement age or it may be a while off, but you will benefit from having a conversation now. We can help you to answer the following questions:

How much retirement provision do I have now?
What would be the impact of options around taking a larger tax-free lump sum, buying additional pension, etc.?
How much income do I need in retirement? Am I on target? What is required to get my retirement on track?
When do I want to retire? How can I retire early? What happens if I want to keep working?
What happens if I die?
Is there more I could be doing to reduce my tax bill?

We have tools, including cashflow modelling software, that can help answer the above questions, including considerations around the McCloud remedy.

The McCloud Remedy was introduced in response to a 2018 court ruling that found age discrimination in the 2015 reforms of UK public sector pension schemes. The ruling determined that younger workers were unfairly treated by being moved to less favourable pension schemes while those closer to retirement were protected. As a remedy, affected workers can now choose between the old and new pension schemes for the period between 2015 and 2022, with the decision to be made at retirement.

For more information on the McCloud Remedy and how we can help, please download our leaflet here.

Life assurance and critical illness cover

If you die while you are an active member of the CARE 2015 Pension scheme, your family will receive a tax-free lump sum of two times your salary. This is a valuable benefit, however, there are some questions that you should ask yourself:

Will that be enough to pay off my mortgage?
Will the lump sum be enough to look after my family?
What would happen if I suffered a critical illness?

We recommend that you review your existing financial position, including liabilities and, where relevant, the cost of raising children to adulthood. You should consider whether you have sufficient life and critical illness cover in place.

Income protection

As an NHS employee, you may be entitled to occupational sick pay. This is typically up to six months at full pay and six months at half pay, depending on your length of service. Some questions you may want to ask are:

Will I be able to pay my bills on half/zero pay?
What happens if I am off sick for longer than a year?
What if I am off work with a recurring serious medical condition?

It is worth considering your current circumstances and whether your workplace sick pay is sufficient to protect you and your family or whether the loss of income would provide a serious detriment.

Other business lines

As part of Azets Group we are also able to offer advice and expertise in other business areas, including:

Payroll – running an efficient and compliant payroll for your limited company
Personal tax – ensuring your personal tax returns are completed
Accounts and business advisory services & corporate tax – if you run a private practice, are all the businesses affairs up to date?

At Azets Wealth Management, we have a team of Financial Planners whose aim is to help businesses and individuals ensure they have the right protection for them, their families and their business. Our Wealth Management team will discuss and explore with you your particular circumstances, with the aim of developing a strategy so that appropriate arrangements and protection mechanisms are in place should anything untoward happen.