I love my SIPP. The Self-Invested Personal Pension, to use its full name, has a terrific upfront advantage. Investors get tax relief on their contributions.

This means that every £100 that goes into SIPP only costs a basic rate taxpayer £80. That falls to £60 for a higher rate taxpayer (they have to claim the extra £20 via their tax return).

Because pension tax relief is paid right at the start, all subsequent growth is generated on that higher sum. Basically, you’re off to a flier.

When it’s time to start drawing the money in retirement, 25% can be taken entirely free of tax, what’s called the pension commencement lump sum.

Investing tax-free for retirement

In contrast to a Stocks and Shares ISA, further SIPP income withdrawals are taxable. But if you earn enough to claim 40% or 45% pensions tax relief while working, but pay just 20% income tax in retirement, you’re winning again.

Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. The content in this article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to be, neither does it constitute, any form of tax advice. Readers are responsible for carrying out their own due diligence and for obtaining professional advice before making any investment decisions.

At The Twelfth Magpie, we encourage investors to build wealth by creating a balanced portfolio of FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 shares. So how much would you need in your SIPP to generate income of £7,777 a year? 

The answer depends on the dividend yield on your shares.

• With a 4% yield, you’d need £194,425 invested.
• At 5%, the required total falls to £155,540.
• And at 6%, the figure drops to £129,617.

Ideally, I’d recommend investing more than that. When your retirement comes, the bigger your pension the better. Supplementing a SIPP with a Stocks and Shares ISA also makes sense. That would allow you to tax blend taxable SIPP withdrawals with tax-free ISA ones, reducing your overall exposure to HMRC.

A top FTSE 100 dividend stock

Cigarette maker Imperial Brands (LSE: IMB) now boasts the third-highest yield on the entire FTSE 100 at 6.22%. That’s a terrific rate of income but it’s not the end of its charms. It’s generated a fair bit of capital growth too. The Imperial Brands share price is up 75% over the last year five years. With dividends reinvested, the total return will have doubled investors’s money.

Yet investing is cyclical and the stock has fallen 13% in the last year. Every company has ups and downs, which is why we like holding for the long-term. The advantage of it today is that Imperial Brands is cheaper than it was, with a price-to-earnings ratio of just 8.3. That’s half the FTSE 100 average.

With every stock, there are risks. Smoking is in decline, new growth areas such as vaping aren’t exactly without controversy, and could attract the attention of regulators. Class action lawsuits are another threat. I decided against buying tobacco stock years ago, because I didn’t approve of the product. Having seen what I’ve missed out on, I regret being so sniffy.

No matter, there are plenty more top dividend and growth options out there. I hold 15 FTSE 100 stocks in my SIPP and my retirement should be a lot more comfortable as a result. I think Imperial Brands is worth considering too.

Should you invest £5,000 in Imperial Brands Plc right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Imperial Brands Plc made the list?

Harvey Jones does not hold any positions in the companies mentioned.