Planning for Retirement

Pensions are dealt with in some detail elsewhere on this web site, Let’s look at other plans you might consider before retiring.

Firstly, retirement planning is a much wider subject than just pension income. How much capital is needed for adapting to a new life style? Some of the obvious changes: buying a car if a company car was always part of the remuneration package during employed life.

The dreaded Jobs List may use up funds. Maybe you are planning the holiday of a lifetime – hopefully that won’t take all your tax free cash from your pension arrangement.

So how do we plan for this? Firstly a little brain storming to prioritise the ‘Bucket List’ that tends to develop at this time (a Bucket List is a register of all those things that you want to do before you die). Then we cost them and apply inflation with some idea as to when, and in which order, the items are to be ticked off – now we know where we want to be, the next stage is to establish exactly where we are now.

The fun part is designing a plan to get from where we are to where we want to be. Sometimes  goals are not achievable with the tools available, sometimes compromises need to be made. In most cases, by using the most tax efficient and appropriate plans, a way forward can be agreed. The vital next step is organised regular plan reviews – this is to make sure everyone is on track. The plan needs to adapt to new circumstances, altered priorities, legislation and new demands.

Financial planning means making choices, it involves using the skills of an experienced adviser that understands your goals, views and tolerance to risk alongside the assurance that support will be available throughout the journey.

For expert help in planning for retirement, contact me for Simple Financial Advice – That Really Works!