Planning for retirement
Keeping you on course for a brighter future
You already have some retirement plans in place, well done. But don’t forget about them. If you don’t keep topping them up, they’ll go out of date. A regular review will keep you on course for a brighter future.
Peoples’ situations change and their retirement plans have to be updated. As your income increases, your job and family life changes and you start to develop a new picture of yourself in retirement, it’s time to review.
You might be happy carrying out a review yourself. If you prefer, our financial planning advisers will be happy to review your plans with you.
Since you set up your retirement plans it’s possible that your circumstances and aspirations have changed. If they have, you would be wise to take another look.
Your company pension
You may have changed jobs and are now a member of a company pension scheme. How does that affect your plans and your options?
If you have a new employer with no company scheme you probably need to save more yourself. How much of a shortfall will you have? Will your new employer contribute to your personal plan?
Your contribution levels
Your pension contributions might have been at the right level when you started your plans but are they still adequate? If your income has increased you should try to increase your retirement contributions by the same rate. This way your retirement fund stands a better chance of keeping up with inflation.
Your responsibilities
Your family circumstances could have changed. You may be married and have children or other dependants who may rely on your retirement income. Is it enough for them? How can you make sure they’ll be financially secure if something happens to you? If you’re divorced now, your former partner may be entitled to a share of your accumulated pension fund.
Your State pension
How much state pension you receive depends on how many years’ National Insurance Contributions you pay while you’re working. You might also receive an additional state pension – based to your earnings. You can get more information on your entitlement from The Pensions Service.
Company pension scheme benefits
If you’re a member of a company pension scheme you should receive an annual statement of your benefits. If you’ve been a member of a company scheme in the past do you have an up to date note of the benefits there? It’s normally possible to transfer benefits from other schemes to your own pension plan but always take advice before you do.
Your current personal or stakeholder pensions
How are your investments performing and are your pension contributions still realistic?
Your other investments
Are you making the most of tax efficient investments such as ISAs and are your investments performing well?
Pensions
It’s easy to start a pension plan and then forget about it. The key point is to regularly review the amount you pay into your plan to make sure it keeps pace with inflation and increases in your earnings.
Savings and investments
If you have a lump sum to invest or a regular amount to put aside every month you should try to make the most of the savings and investment opportunities available.
Protection
Protection products such as income protection and critical illness cover can help make sure your retirement plans stay on course if you’re unwell.
Financial planning review
For a confidential, no obligation review of your current financial situation.
Get in touch
We’re here to help you cut through the complexities of retirement.
Contact us today for an appointment with one of our Financial Planning Managers.
Call us on
0800 051 1868*
*Minicom 0800 404 6161. Lines are open: Mon to Thurs 8am-8pm, Fri 8am-6pm,
Sat 9am-5pm (excl. public holidays).
Calls may be recorded
Glossary
Check out those tricky retirement terms in our glossary.