Benjamin Grimsey - Independent Financial Planner

29/10/2026

Autumn Budget 2026 – What Does It Mean for Your Money?

The Autumn Budget has put personal finances firmly in the spotlight, with announcements that could have implications for households, savers, investors and those planning for retirement.
From pensions and taxation to savings, property and the wider economy, understanding how these changes might affect your financial future is more important than ever.

I've put together a short breakdown of some of the key announcements and what they could mean for you.

👉 Swipe through the slides below for a closer look.

As always, financial planning isn't just about reacting to changes today. It's about making informed decisions that support your longer-term goals.

27/10/2026

Should I take my 25% tax-free cash from my pension?

“I’m retiring, so I’ll take my 25% tax-free cash.”

It’s something I hear quite often.

But just because you can take tax-free cash from your pension doesn't necessarily mean you should take all of it straight away.

The first question I'd ask is:
What are you going to use it for?

There could be a perfectly good reason.
You might want to:

• Pay off your mortgage
• Clear other debts
• Buy a car
• Make home improvements
• Help your children
• Build a cash reserve
• Fund the first few years of retirement

But if you're simply taking the money because it's available, it's worth thinking about what happens next.

If you withdraw a large lump sum from your pension and leave it sitting in your bank account, you may have moved money out of a tax-efficient pension environment without actually needing it.

You also don't necessarily have to take all of your available tax-free cash in one go.
Depending on the pension and your circumstances, it may be possible to take benefits gradually and use tax-free cash as part of a wider retirement income strategy.

That can give you much more flexibility.
The important thing is to have a reason for the withdrawal.

Don't start with “How much can I take?”

Start with:
“How much do I actually need, and what's the most appropriate way of taking it?”
Retirement planning isn't simply about accessing your pension.

It's about deciding how to use the money you've spent your working life building in the most effective way for the years ahead.

Approved by 2plan Wealth Management 04.09.26

21/10/2026

20/10/2026

Can I retire before State Pension age?

Yes.

Your State Pension age isn't your retirement date. It's simply the age at which you can start receiving your State Pension. So if you're 55, 58 or 60 and thinking:

“Do I really need to keep working until State Pension age?”

The answer depends on whether you've built enough resources to bridge the gap.
For example, someone retiring at 60 may have several years before their State Pension starts. During that period, their income might need to come from:

• Workplace or personal pensions
• ISAs and investments
• Cash savings
• Rental or other income
• Part-time work
• A combination of several sources

Then, once the State Pension begins, the amount they need to withdraw from their other assets could potentially reduce. This is where retirement cashflow planning can be really useful. Rather than simply asking:

“How big is my pension?”

We can start asking:

How much do I actually spend?
What income will I need in retirement?
What assets have I built up?
When will my different sources of income begin?
And what happens if I stop working earlier?

Sometimes people discover they need to work a little longer. Others discover that they're already in a much stronger position than they realised. And that's an incredibly powerful thing to know.

Because if you've spent decades building pensions, savings and investments, eventually there comes a point where the question changes from:

“When am I allowed to retire?”
to:
“When can I afford to retire?”

Those are two very different questions.

Approved by 2plan Wealth Management 04.09.26

14/10/2026

I’m delighted to share that I’ve joined as a Board Trustee at Penhaligon's Friends! I am both honoured and proud to support a Cornish charity dedicated to helping bereaved children, young people and their families navigate some of life's most difficult experiences.

I look forward to contributing my professional experience, supporting the charity's long-term development and working alongside fellow trustees to help ensure Penhaligon’s Friends can continue providing its invaluable services to families across Cornwall.

www.penhaligonsfriends.org.uk

13/10/2026

I've inherited £100,000 — what should I do with it?

The first answer might surprise you.
You don't necessarily need to do anything immediately.
An inheritance can completely change someone's financial position, but it often arrives at a difficult and emotional time.
So before rushing to invest it, pay off the mortgage or make a big purchase, it can be sensible to give yourself some time.

Once you're ready, I'd start by looking at your whole financial picture.

You might consider:
• Paying off expensive debts
• Keeping an appropriate emergency cash reserve
• Reducing or clearing some of your mortgage
• Using your ISA allowance
• Making pension contributions
• Investing for longer-term goals
• Helping children or family
• Setting money aside for something you've always wanted to do

But the right answer depends entirely on what you want the money to achieve.
Someone aged 35 with a large mortgage and young children may make very different decisions to someone aged 60 who's thinking about retirement.
And you don't necessarily have to choose just one option.

£100,000 could potentially be divided between several different objectives, some for today, some for the next few years and some invested for the longer term.
The important thing is having a plan before making the decisions.

Because an inheritance isn't just a lump of money.
It's often the result of somebody else's lifetime of saving and hard work.
Used carefully, it could make a meaningful difference to your own financial future and potentially your family's too.

If you've recently received an inheritance and aren't sure where to start, taking some time to understand your options can be incredibly valuable.

Approved by 2plan Wealth Management 04.09.26

05/10/2026

How much can a company director pay into a pension?

This is a question I get asked regularly by business owners.
And the answer is often more interesting than they expect.
If you're a limited company director, your company can potentially make employer pension contributions directly into your pension.

For the 2026/27 tax year, the standard pension annual allowance is £60,000 for most people. But that doesn't necessarily mean £60,000 is the absolute maximum you could contribute.

Depending on your circumstances, you may also be able to use carry forward and make use of unused annual allowance from the previous three tax years.
This can potentially allow a company to make a substantial pension contribution for a director.

There's another important point. If you personally make a pension contribution, the amount that can receive tax relief is generally linked to your relevant UK earnings.
But employer contributions aren't restricted in the same way by your salary.

That's particularly relevant for company directors who take a relatively small salary and the remainder of their income through dividends. For the company, pension contributions may also be deductible when calculating Corporation Tax, provided they meet the relevant rules.

So if your business has built up surplus cash, it can be worth considering whether some of that money could be working towards your future instead. There are important rules to navigate, particularly with large contributions, carry forward, the tapered annual allowance and the company's tax position. But for the right business owner, company pension contributions can be an extremely useful planning tool.

Your business doesn't just have to provide an income today.
It can help fund the life you want when you eventually stop working too.

Approved by 2plan Wealth Management 04.09.26

28/09/2026

Should I pay off my mortgage or put more into my pension?

It's a question I get asked quite a lot, particularly by people in their 40s and 50s.
You've got some spare money each month.

Do you:
A) Overpay the mortgage
or
B) Put more into your pension?

There isn't one answer that's right for everybody.

Paying down your mortgage gives you something very tangible, a guaranteed reduction in the interest you'll pay and the security of knowing you owe less on your home.

For many people, being mortgage-free before retirement is an important goal in itself.

But pensions have advantages too.

Depending on your circumstances, contributions can benefit from tax relief. If you're employed, there may also be additional employer contributions available.
And for limited company directors, employer pension contributions can potentially be a particularly tax-efficient way of moving money from the company into long-term retirement savings.

Then there's investment growth.

Money invested into a pension has the potential to grow over the long term — but unlike paying down debt, investment returns aren't guaranteed.

So when I'm looking at this question, I'd consider things like:
• Your mortgage interest rate
• How long is left on the mortgage
• Your age and planned retirement date
• Your existing pension provision
• Your tax position
• Whether you're receiving the maximum employer pension contribution available
• Your attitude towards investment risk
• How important being debt-free is to you

And sometimes the answer doesn't have to be one or the other. You could do both.
Increase your pension contributions while making regular mortgage overpayments, with a plan to have the mortgage cleared by retirement.

Financial planning isn't always about finding the mathematically perfect answer.
It's about finding the balance that gives you the best chance of achieving your goals while still allowing you to sleep comfortably at night.

Approved by 2plan Wealth Management 04.09.26

22/09/2026

What happens to my pension when I die?

It's not the nicest subject to think about, but it's an important part of financial planning. One thing I regularly find is that people aren't quite sure what happens to their pension when they die.

The answer depends on what type of pension you have and how you've chosen to take your retirement benefits. With many modern defined contribution pensions, there may be money left in the pension that can potentially be passed on to your beneficiaries. That could be your spouse or partner, children, grandchildren or other people you've nominated.

But there are a few important things to think about.

Have you completed an expression of wish?
This tells your pension provider who you'd like them to consider when deciding who receives your pension benefits.
It's something that's easily forgotten.
You might have completed one 15 years ago and never looked at it again.
Since then you may have married, divorced, had children or grandchildren, or your circumstances may simply have changed.

There are also important tax considerations when pension benefits are inherited, and the rules around pensions and estates are changing. That's why pensions shouldn't be looked at purely as a way of providing an income in retirement.
They can also form an important part of your wider estate and legacy planning.

So here's a simple question:

If you died tomorrow, do you know who you've nominated to receive your pensions?

If you don't know, it might be worth checking.

It's a small piece of financial housekeeping that could make a very big difference to the people you leave behind.

Approved by 2plan Wealth Management 04.09.26

21/09/2026

He's also holding a special event with Betty Stogs next month!