Being self-employed means that you cannot join occupational pension schemes, although you will receive the basic state pension and the Flat Rate State Pension with effect from 6 April 2016.

This means it is essential to make plans for contributing to an individual arrangement in order to receive an income that gives you security in your retirement, but how much do you need?

Calculating how big your retirement fund needs to be is relatively simple. Take into account all your likely living costs to estimate how much annual income you think you would need from 65 onwards. Allow for inflation and then multiply the figure by 25. This gives you your 'magic number', the retirement fund you will need to provide the income you require.

Expert and professional advice, which focuses on your requirements, is of paramount importance and will be the cornerstone of your pension planning arrangements. Recognising this, the St. James's Place Approach to Retirement Planning is founded on four key principles:

• Advice
• Service
• Flexibility
• Control

If you would like to know more about the St. James's Place range of pensions, or specialist advice on your retirement planning requirements, please get in touch.

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.