<\/p>\n
However, are you concerned the idea of a financially comfortable retirement is increasingly unattainable? You might have some concerns about your pension savings and whether they\u2019ll provide the income you need. If you haven\u2019t already done so, now is the ideal time to take stock of your current situation and make any necessary alterations to ensure you\u2019re on track.<\/p>\n
Here are five tips to help you get started. <\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Calculate your expected retirement spending<\/strong> Then, consider what might increase or decrease over your retirement. For example, you may be reaching the end of your mortgage, which will mean your debt payments go down. But you might plan to take up a new hobby, which will mean your non-essential spending goes up. 2. Review your current wealth<\/strong> Remember it\u2019s not only pension savings that can dictate your retirement spending, but also other sources of income, such as buy-to-let properties or investment portfolios, so be sure to include these too.<\/p>\n 3. Maximise your pension savings<\/strong> You may want to increase your salary sacrifice pension contributions. As long as you\u2019re paying in less than \u00a340,000 a year (or 100% of your salary if it\u2019s below \u00a340,000), the more you put in your pension, the more tax relief you can receive.<\/p>\n You may also want to make lump sum payments into your pension. If a lump sum would take you over the \u00a340,000 pension annual allowance, you can use unused annual allowance from up to three previous years.<\/p>\n Your pension annual allowance is the most you can save in your pension pots in a tax year (6 April to 5 April) before you have to pay tax.<\/p>\n 4. Adjust your investment strategy<\/strong> 5. Consider a phased retirement<\/strong> These days, there is a trend of people increasingly deciding to slowly reduce the hours they work over a few years or to take on a part-time job in the early years of their retirement to keep busy and continue to contribute to a pension. Others may use a lump sum at the start of their retirement to establish a small business. There are many different retirement journeys that might suit your lifestyle and financial goals.<\/p>\n A PENSION IS A LONG-TERM INVESTMENT NOT NORMALLY ACCESSIBLE UNTIL AGE 55 (57 FROM APRIL 2028). THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENTS (AND ANY INCOME FROM THEM) CAN GO DOWN AS WELL AS UP WHICH WOULD HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE LEVEL OF PENSION BENEFITS AVAILABLE. YOUR PENSION INCOME COULD ALSO BE AFFECTED BY THE INTEREST RATES AT THE TIME YOU TAKE YOUR BENEFITS.<\/p>\n THE TAX IMPLICATIONS OF PENSION WITHDRAWALS WILL BE BASED ON YOUR INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES, TAX LEGISLATION AND REGULATION WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE IN THE FUTURE. YOU SHOULD SEEK ADVICE TO UNDERSTAND YOUR OPTIONS AT RETIREMENT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Creating a comfortable, secure retirement takes care and forethought If you\u2019re 10 to 15 years from retirement, you\u2019re probably starting to think more about how you\u2019ll spend your life after work. You might be contemplating travelling more, dedicating more time to your passions, or enjoying more free time with your family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3482"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3482\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nEveryone has a different idea of the ideal retirement and so will have different spending needs. Looking at your current outgoings is a good place to start. Calculate how much you spend each month on paying down debts, paying bills, essential spending, and non-essential spending.<\/p>\n
\nRemember to factor in any large lump sums you plan to spend, such as helping your children with property deposits or taking a dream holiday.<\/p>\n
\nYou might have accumulated several different workplace pensions with different employers over your lifetime, so you\u2019ll need to total the savings you have in all of them. Start by contacting previous employers to find out the name of the pension provider. If you don\u2019t have the details of each pension, we can help you trace them.<\/p>\n
\nIf your current pension savings won\u2019t cover your expected retirement spending, you can adjust your current financial arrangements to help you reach your goal.<\/p>\n
\nYour pension savings might currently be invested based on a higher-risk strategy to maximise the potential returns on your investments. But as you approach retirement, you may want to choose a lower-risk strategy with an emphasis on preserving the wealth that you have rather than growing it.
\nLower-risk strategies tend to result in fewer losses and slower, but more predictable, growth. That can be preferable when you\u2019re trying to ensure your savings last a lifetime. We can help you establish the right strategy for your risk appetite and goals.<\/p>\n
\nSome people want to stop working as soon as possible, but that\u2019s not the right choice for everyone. They may dream of an early retirement at their mid 50\u2019s, but once they leave behind their workplace at such a young age they might not find retirement fulfilling. Also the amount in their savings or portfolio may not reflect what they\u2019ll need to enjoy the coming years and lifestyle they want.<\/p>\n