Share Sounds from Women & Money presented by Sarah Pennells (1) related to Pensions & Retirement - Planning for Retirement

If you're close to retirement, or thinking of setting up a pension pot, where do you start when it comes to choosing a private pension? Lorna Blythe, from Royal London, explains to Sarah Pennells what pensions are and how they work; Danisha Chada, a chartered and certified financial planner with Smith and Williamson, looks at how much help could a pension company give to its individual customers, Alan Chan, from IFS Wealth and Pensions, explains what the first steps are when taking out a pension for the first time.

With the state pension age changing, it can be tricky to find out how much you can get. Is it giving women a better deal? Malcolm McLean, a consultant with the actuary firm Barnett Waddingham, Harry Rose, the editor of WhichMoney, and John Shearer, from The Pensions Advisory Service, discuss whether the new state pension will affect carers. Sarah will also look at what are the changes for women who take time out of the workplace to bring up their children. She also speaks Lin Phillips from WASPI who are campaigning for the government to offer concessions to women caught out by these rises who didn't get enough notice.

Sarah Pennells is joined by Claire Finn, Head of Pensions at BlackRock, and Louise Oliver of Piercefield Oliver, to talk about women investing for their future pensions. In this week's programme, dedicated to finance from a female perspective, Sarah and her guests look at how to prepare for your pension and what to look out for when investing.

Sarah Pennells is joined in the studio by Alan Higham, founder of Pensions Champion, and Tina Weeks, founder of Serenity Financial Planning, to discuss the state pension, and look at what you will actually get if you're due to retire. Despite being called a flat rate or single tier pension, not everyone will necessarily get the same amount and far fewer women than men will qualify for the full figure of £155.65 a week. In the programme Sarah will be looking at who is entitled to the new state pension and the differences between the current and the new pension.

Sarah Pennells is joined in the studio by Griselda Williams of TRUST|Pensions and on the phone with Debbie Houghton from the Rowan Organisation and Sarah-Jane Butler from Parental Choice to discuss how to set up a pension if you employee someone for help around the house or with your children such as a nanny, childminder, gardener or cleaner.

Sarah Pennells is joined in the studio by Laura Whitcombe, deputy editor at Moneywise and Paula Steele of John Lamb, and also on the phone with Cleona Lira of 2plan Wealth Management to discuss how and where to go to get financial advice and their top tips on money management, only on Share Radio.

Sarah Pennells is joined by two pensions experts from The Pensions Advisory Service and Fidelity to discuss state pensions for women and the introduction of the single tier state pension in 2016.