A personal pension may also be referred to as a private pension.

A personal pension is a means by which many people may choose to improve upon their retirement lifestyle by setting up their own personal fund with a pension company

In many cases an individual may have considerable funds locked away in such a pension scheme. Pension Release is the term most commonly used to describe unlocking these funds, or a portion of them, in order to enjoy some of the benefits prior to the time at which the pension comes to fruition.

You can view the Government’s Information Service at The Pension Service - A to Z - Personal pensions

Many people have been advised to lie to buy a house

Industry insiders have described how people have been advised to lie about their incomes to take out loans far bigger than they would usually be granted and with repayments which they can ill afford.

At least 50 percent of UK sub-prime mortgages are self-certification mortgages, knows as ’self cert’ where borrowers state their income and lenders do not necessarily make the necessary checks to validate the submitted information.

A former broker in the industry told BBC Radio 4’s File On 4 that some advisers in the sector tell clients with low incomes to inflate their earnings on application forms to get outsize loans, which they often cannot afford.

Inflating the client’s income is seen as an easy way for brokers to get the deal passed.

One borrower whose real income was £25,000 told the BBC he was advised to double that on his mortgage application and was awarded a loan of more than eight times his salary.

His monthly repayments are such a hug e portion of his salary that he has struggled to make repayments and has now been threatened with repossession.