Richard Cook. The Investment and Retirement Coach

04/08/2026

Retirees are paying a good deal more income tax than they were two years ago — more than 40% more, according to HMRC. And with pension funds falling into the inheritance tax net next April, that trend looks set to continue.

Often the reason people pay more tax than they need to is simply that they aren't fully in control of their retirement planning. And that has a direct effect on the lifestyle they can afford.

My role as The Investment and Retirement Coach is simply to make you feel confident about your retirement planning by putting you in control. I do that using my 40+ years' experience to provide a combination of coaching, guidance, education, information and support. Nothing clever, nothing risky, nothing expensive.

Will you pay less tax? Probably — though I can't promise it.

If you'd like to talk it through, get in touch. https://www.theinvestmentandretirementcoach.co.uk/

30/07/2026

30/07/2026

Do you feel in control of and totally confident in your retirement financial planning?

30/07/2026

Do you feel in control of and confident with your retirement financial planning?

15/06/2026

Why are so many of my clients enjoying retirement more than ever?

It’s one of the unexpected consequences of the Government’s decision to bring pension funds into Inheritance Tax calculations from April 2027.

When the announcement was made, the initial reaction from many clients was a mixture of shock and frustration. Years of carefully structured planning had been turned on its head, and what had been a highly effective strategy suddenly looked far less attractive. But after the dust settled, the conversation quickly changed to “What can we do about it?”

For many, leaving large pension funds untouched to grow indefinitely, while simultaneously creating a larger potential IHT bill, no longer made sense.

Many clients with large funds were restricting withdrawals to remain within basic-rate tax bands. Now, given the choice between paying 40% Income Tax and having more money to enjoy, spend, or gift, vs paying 40% Inheritance Tax after death, it’s not surprising which option many are choosing.

The result - more holidays, more meals out, more business-class flights, more financial help for children and grandchildren when they can genuinely benefit from it. And perhaps most importantly, more enjoyment of life.

What I’ve noticed is that these clients seem more relaxed, more confident and more comfortable with their finances than ever before. There is a real sense of satisfaction in knowing that every pound spent on experiences, family, or personal enjoyment is also reducing a future IHT liability.

These are clients who had good levels of pension funds earmarked for a tax-free inheritance, from which they were taking an income whilst seeing their funds retain their value.

Of course, spending more in retirement isn’t the right answer for everyone, but for many, it is proving to be a surprisingly liberating shift in mindset.

One client recently told me that whenever their ISA delivers a particularly strong year, they now make a point of spending the gains. If markets are less kind, they simply skip a holiday or two. A simple philosophy, but one that feels entirely aligned with making the most of retirement.

Naturally, some families will still benefit from more sophisticated IHT planning involving gifting strategies, trusts and other solutions, but the children of the clients I am talking to can still look forward to a substantial inheritance, and they love their parents’ new lifestyle.

If you'd like to explore whether this approach could work for you, let's have a conversation.

08/06/2026

Half of investors are 'mislabelled' by standard risk-profiling

I've been taking income from my drawdown plan for fifteen years.
In that time, I've come to one clear conclusion: the only real risk I need to manage is being forced to sell funds at a loss to meet my income withdrawals.

My solution has been straightforward: keep up to three years of planned income in cash, away from market movements. That lets me invest everything else in a diversified equity portfolio, which has produced returns I wouldn't have seen with a cautious risk profile.
Standard risk profiling wouldn't have got me here. Which is why I wasn't surprised to read recently that more than half of investors may have been placed in a category that's too cautious for their actual situation.

Volatility isn't the risk. It's inevitable if you hold equity funds. The risk is not planning your cash flow well enough and ending up having to sell at the wrong time.

Get that right, and you don't need a low-volatility portfolio. You just need a plan.

I can't give regulated financial advice, but if this sounds familiar to your own situation, feel free to get in touch. I'm happy to talk it through.

28/04/2026

Are you running your business only to end up worse off than your employees?

Three in ten employers don't have a pension, according to recent research by Rathbones.

I sold my own business on good terms after more than 40 years, but a significant part of my retirement income still comes from my pension plans. If you're assuming a future business sale will fund your whole retirement, that is a risky strategy. The future of any business today is harder to predict than ever, and a substantial pension gives you a proper backstop.

Your employees are automatically enrolled in a workplace pension, with contributions of 8% of earnings. If you don't want to end up worse off than they are, that should be your minimum, and based on your total income from the business, not just salary.

Treat it as a compulsory overhead, not an optional one. If you're not at least matching your employees' contributions, something is wrong.

It's also one of the few ways to take money out of your business without paying tax. A company can contribute up to £60,000 a year into your pension as a business expense, no income tax, no corporation tax, no national insurance. The money then sits in a tax-efficient account until you take benefits.

You don't need expensive regulated advice to set this up. Platforms like Hargreaves Lansdown are straightforward to use.

If you'd like some help thinking it through, our coaching and guidance service can point you in the right direction. Do get in touch if that would be useful. https://www.theinvestmentandretirementcoach.co.uk/

24/04/2026

𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟏 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟑? 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮. You may not be aware of the changes to the pension scheme rules that come into effect on 6 April 2028, which move the starting pension age from 55 to 57.

If you were born after 5th April 1973, there is nothing you can do about this, but if you were born between 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟏 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟑, you need to understand the rules and how they apply to you.

If you were born before 6 April 1971, you can choose to access your 25% tax-free cash or start to access your pension at age 55. If, however, you don’t take those benefits by 6 April 2028, you will be locked out until your 57th birthday. And that could be up to two years in some cases.

Is this important? Absolutely!

If you’re aiming to access some tax-free cash at age 55 to reduce mortgages, help the children, start a new business, or even avoid the political threat to the tax-free nature of the payments, you need to start your planning NOW.

If you need some jargon-free, no-nonsense guidance, please feel free to get in touch.