Retirement Planning

No matter your age, it’s never too late (or early) to start planning for retirement. In fact, the sooner you start, the better, and the more money you’re likely to have available when the time comes.

Our all-encompassing retirement planning service is designed to help you plan for your retirement effectively. Establishing your goals and painting a clear picture of what retirement looks like, we help you achieve your objectives with realistic, bespoke financial advice.

But how do you plan for retirement, and where do you start?

Plan for your retirement sooner, rather than later

With almost a third of people in Great Britain not expecting to have any pension provision beyond the State Pension when they retire, you shouldn’t leave it too late to start planning. Getting advice early is always a wise move, and you’ll probably be surprised at how much you need to save to enjoy the retirement of your dreams.

That’s why it’s important to start when you’re younger, rather than older, even if it’s something you haven’t given much thought to in the past.

Everyone has a unique set of personal circumstances that need to be considered for retirement, and speaking to an expert can help simplify the process and set you on the right path.

Speaking to an expert also gives you the opportunity to create a tailored plan to achieve your retirement objectives, with advice from someone who knows their way around the topic.

Get in touch with South Charlotte Wealth Management to figure out your retirement today.

How to plan for retirement

You need to ask yourself a few key questions when it comes to planning your retirement. These include:

When do you want to retire?

Setting a realistic age of retirement helps shape your plans. The state pension age is currently 66, with a phased increase to 67 starting in 2026 through to 2028. Most people tend to tailor their retirement plans around this number.

You can also generally access cash from your personal pension pots at age 55, but this rises to 57 in April 2028, for those born after 6^th April 1971.

From workplace and personal pensions to your investments, properties, and other sources of income, there’s lots to consider, and various factors that affect the age you’re able to retire. Your decision depends on your personal preferences, too, and when you want to call time on your working life and enjoy the fruits of your labour.

However, no matter what age you’d like to retire, you need to have the money available to do so.

How much money do you need for retirement?

Once you know the age you want to retire, your next step is to calculate how much money you can comfortably live off when you’re no longer working. Basically, you need to know what retired life looks like, and how much it will cost.

Include every expense you can think of here, such as holidays, home improvements, car repairs, dentist appointments, and vet visits for your pets. You should also consider living costs like bills, clothes, and food.

Your calculation depends on how you live your life and the kind of things you enjoy, and you need to be realistic with your calculations to make sure you’re covered.

But even with the best intentions, it’s common for people to underestimate how much money they’ll need in retirement, which is why it’s always a smart move to speak to a retirement planning expert.

With experience helping people in similar circumstances to yourself, an expert can help you work out what’s achievable and realistic, and what isn’t.

Do your current saving plans cover your retirement goals?

After analysing the above, you should determine how much money it will take to hit your monetary goal for retirement.

It’s a case of bringing together all of your sources of income, from savings to investments, pensions, and anything else, and establishing whether you’re on course for your perfect retirement.

If not, and most of the time, it’s not, a re-think or some retirement guidance may be required to help you get on course.

Do you understand your pension drawdown options?

Pensions can be complex, and you’re able to take your funds in a number of ways.

In the UK, you can choose from one of, or a combination of, the below:

Flexible income

Also known as drawdown or flexi-access drawdown, flexible income is the process of using funds from your pension(s) to live off when you retire.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the name, this option offers flexibility around when and how you can use your pension contributions.

Your pension as a lump sum, or more than one

If you like, you’re able to take your entire pension pot as a lump sum the day you hit retirement, regardless of how much money is in it. 25% of this can be withdrawn tax-free, and the rest can be paid as if it was income.

You can also withdraw smaller amounts from your pension fund if you don’t want to withdraw everything at once.

Buy an annuity

An annuity acts as a yearly income for the rest of your life, and you can purchase them from insurance companies.

You can split your withdrawal between tax-free lump sums and an annuity made up of the remainder, and there are lots of different annuity options available to buy.

The large amount of choice means that it’s best to seek advice or shop around yourself when it comes to buying an annuity.

Get in touch with South Charlotte Wealth Management to find out more about your pension withdrawal options.

Locate lost pensions

If you’ve worked for different companies throughout your working life, like most people, you might have lost track of some of the pension plans in your name.

The Government’s Pension Tracing Service can help you contact your workplace or locate personal pension schemes, which gives you a clear picture of where you stand.

At South Charlotte Wealth Management, we can also help you consolidate your pensions, so everything is in one place. This can make pensions easier to track and manage, and can help with your retirement planning process.

However, there are various pros and cons to consolidating your pension, so don’t jump into any decisions without seeking proper advice.