2018 has been a quiet year in the world of pensions - no seismic changes or hacking of allowances makes for welcome relief.

The basic premise on contributions made to pensions is that once the money has gone in, you can’t get it out again until you reach retirement age (or earlier ill health or death). There are very few circumstances when exceptions can be made, and if a refund is made other than as permitted by HMRC, then it would be classed as an unauthorised payment with charges totalling up to 70% of the amount refunded.

So it was with bated breath that Chancellor Philip Hammond stood to deliver his November Budget speech. Rumours has been swirling for weeks that pensions could be hit with changes to taxation. It was suggested that this would be to pay towards the NHS deficit among other things. It was with great relief that when he sat down and we reviewed the actual Budget papers that this was all just speculation and there was little impact. This can only be a good thing as any meddling impacts the distrust that consumers have for the pensions system and makes it difficult for advisers to plan for the long term with clients. How many times have we heard that PCLS or tax-free cash as it is more commonly known will be scrapped? Every Budget for as long as I can remember.

With September’s CPI figures now being released we know what next year’s Lifetime Allowance (LTA) will be - £1,054,800. Whilst hardly a dizzying increase we are at least crawling in the right direction after years of being pegged back. I get a few surprised looks when I remind people that the original version of Finance Act 2004 included a clause that the standard lifetime allowance could only increase.