ARE YOU SPENDING ENOUGH TIME PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT?

New research from one of the UK’s leading pensions and investment companies, found that over 45’s are spending longer planning a holiday than their retirement.
(Source LV planning for retirement report)

Since the pension freedoms in 2015, we now have more flexibility and choice when it comes to our retirement options. However, the increasing amount of choice has caused confusion and means we need to start thinking about and planning our retirement earlier.

However, new research has found those people approaching the current minimum retirement age of 55 are spending worryingly little time thinking about their retirement options.

The research found that 51% of respondents aged 45- 54 didn’t think about their retirement at all last year. Those that did, spent more time planning a holiday than their retirement. They spent an average of three hours and 42 minutes planning their retirement, compared to five hours 42 planning a holiday. People even spent longer planning for redecorating a room than their retirement – which came out as five hours 6 minutes.

Saving for your retirement

The research also found 62% of 45-54 year old’s don’t know how much they have saved for retirement.

Of those surveyed who are aged 50 and over, will on average expect to need around £1,360 a month to live comfortably in retirement, but this means someone retiring at 55 would need to have around £311,000 saved, assuming they qualify for the full state pension. The average pension saving for those surveyed aged 45-54 is £71,342 and 39% of those have less than £50,000 and 13% have nothing at all.

Anyone approaching retirement should check their pension pots annually, and consider using a professional financial adviser to help them make a plan.

Here are some top tips to help you make a retirement plan:

Track down your lost pensions – If you’ve lost track of your pensions, speak to a financial adviser who will help you trace lost plans, make a list of where you have worked in your career and think about pensions you may have had through each employment
Consider consolidating – If you have more than one pension pot, why not bring them all together? You could get better investment performance, always remember investment returns are not guaranteed and consult a good financial adviser before you do this just in case your plans have special guarantees.
Check your other assets – If you make a list of your other savings and investments, this might help you understand how much you have to fund your retirement.
Review the state pension – It’s unlikely that this will be enough to see you through retirement on its own, but it will help – so keep up to date with the state pension.
Do a simple budget of what you spend now then consider what you will spend when you are retired, set an income target for retirement and set a target for when you will retire. Your financial adviser can then assess whether you are on track and help you get on track if you aren’t
Every year thousands of pounds in tax relief is unclaimed by higher rate taxpayers. Most pension schemes will give you basic rate tax relief of 20% at source, but higher rate tax payers can claim further tax relief through self-assessment or by simply contacting and advising HMRC of their pension contributions. You can invest the extra tax relief as additional contributions to your pension planning.

Get Expert Help
Alastair Jappy DipPFS is Managing Director of City Financial, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

DID YOU KNOW?

Independent Financial Advisers are able to offer whole
of market solutions for a variety of financial objectives.
The 4 main categories of financial advice are as follows:

(1) Pensions
Whether you want to consider a new pension plan, establish a workplace pension for your staff, transfer or amalgamate existing pensions, research your choices at retirement or simply review the pensions you already own – an IFA can provide you with an unbiased opinion on the best options for you.

(2) Investments
ISAs, Bonds, Unit Trusts, Open Ended Investment Companies, Investment Trusts, Offshore Funds and many other structures are available through an Independent Adviser. They can help you make new investments or reviewing your existing portfolio to achieve the best return.

(3) Mortgages
From first time buyers, remortgages, buy to let, self-build, capital raising, commercial mortgages – an IFA can assist with every step.

(4) Protection
Protecting your family, your mortgage, your business, your income, your property and numerous other assets or liabilities you may have – IFAs should be able to offer you the most competitive rates available in the market.

Advanced Investment & Retirement Planning Ltd. is an appointed
representative of 2plan wealth management Ltd. Authorised and
regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under no. 507231.
Registered in Scotland under no. SC361109. Registered address: 7
Ardross Street, Inverness, IV3 5PL.

Next month’s topic is on At Retirement & Beyond

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