Do you know when you can retire?  This is different from when you want to retire. Retiring when you want is dependent on you having sufficient retirement income to support your desired lifestyle in retirement.

For the average person (in their 20s, 30s or 40s) retirement at 60 or 65 is going to be a pipe dream without the appropriate planning (unless of course they win the lottery!). The reason is that their desired retirement income is not aligned with the amount they are saving for retirement.

You can’t expect a pension of £20,000 pa if you can only afford to contribute £50 per month.  You put peanuts in….

So are you ready to take responsibility for your retirement? Should you really rely on the Government to provide you with a pension? Since the start of the new millennium there have been countless changes to pension legislation and changes in state pension age. Do you know when you will be entitled to a state pension? It may not be when you think. State pension age is currently increasing to 65 for women.  Further increases are already timetabled for both men and women to age 68. Additional increases may follow.

Looking at personal pension provision, pensions have had a ‘bad’ reputation in the past, with a number of people not “trusting” them, however with the right guidance and advice pensions should be seen as one of the viable ways to provide you with an income in retirement.

Can you afford to wait to start saving? Using basic calculations if you start pension contributions at age 30 you could receive a pension 102% higher than if you waited 10 years and made the same monthly payments. In addition if you are now 40 and only just starting making pension contributions with a requirement to retire at 65 with a pension income of £30,000pa you would need to make monthly contributions of £1,313pm (subject to investment performance).
This is even without allowing for the fact that we are all living longer, with men now starting to catch women up on longevity.

Pensions are not the only way of providing an income in retirement, there are a number of other tax efficient investments available that can provide you with an income in retirement.  Don’t put “all your eggs in one basket,” when your retirement income is going to be such an important part of your life.

There is also NEST (National Employment Savings Trust), the Government’s solution for the workplace pension auto-enrolment legislation.  This will force both employers and employees to contribute to workplace pensions.  Auto-enrolment is going to be a compulsory opt in scheme, so if you have not heard of it then you should be looking into it.

We are experts in helping you plan for your retirement, so if you want to start shaping your financial future then call us on 0845 345 3536.