Pensions planning

I have a new client who is employed by a large company. He is fortunate in that the employer still has a final salary pension scheme of which he is a member.

Both the employer and the employee contribute to the company pension scheme and the employee has also made some pension contributions into a self-invested pension plan (SIPP) in recent years.

I understand that these have been in the region of £1 000 or £2 000 a year. I gather that the payment of these amounts were not considered to be a problem by the client’s previous adviser.

Over the past few years the client has apparently been working additional hours on an unpaid basis on several projects that are now coming to fruition. These have contributed to significant increases in the employer company’s profitability and future prospects.

The employer has recognised my client’s efforts and is proposing...