A life policy consisting of a number of equally valued smaller policies. Each policy in the cluster is treated separately for tax and administrative purposes. The holder can transfer each individual policy separately into a personal pension scheme to secure pension benefits and take them at different times to phase in retirement. The holder is able to retain the maximum tax-free investment and secure a lump sum return on death. Clustering can also be applied to investment bonds or endowments enabling the holder to take benefits as required over a period.