Retirement planning for the lifestyle you dream of.Take control of your financial future.

Retirement planning doesn't have to be complicated, with the right plan in place, and the right support, your dream retirement can feel like a breeze. 

We've laid out some simple steps in retirement planning below, but if you get stuck, just reach out and one of our retirement planning specialists will be happy to help you:

1. Decide what type of retirement you want to enjoy
2. Set a retirement date
3. Work out a retirement budget based on what feels like a good retirement income for you.
4. Request a pension forecast - request your state pension forecast here https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension 
5. Get your pension estimates - track down old pensions with the Pension Tracing Service (0800 731 0193)
6. Talk to a Financial Advisor to create a retirement plan, work out how you will pay down any debt and if it's worth consolidating any old pensions
7. Put your retirement plan in action and look forward to enjoying your retirement.
8. Don't forget to periodically review your plans every year to make sure you're on track, because circumstances can change and the earlier you respond the more time you have to course correct.

Industry estimates reckon you’ll need anywhere between £10,000-£30,000 per year for a single person in retirement and at least £17,000-£40,000 a year for a couple in retirement.

But these figures are estimates based on averages. 

A better way of working out how much you need to retire is to look at home much you're currently spending per year and use Target Replacement Rate to work out how much you'll need in retirement to sustain your existing standard of living. 

Target replacement rate states you'll need anywhere between 50-80% of your pre-retirement income to mainstain a similar standard of living in retirement

Of course, if you plan on living a completely different lifestyle in retirement then you'll need a more bespoke appoach to working out how much you'll need to retire. 

Try our retirement cost calculator for couples, or our singles retirement cost calculator.

Read more in our full guide to How much you need to retire

Retirement isn't a one-size fits all affair anymore, there are lots of choices about how you can spend your golden years.

There are 5 types of retirement you could consider

• Early retirement
• Mini retirements
• Semi-retirement
• Phased retirement
• Traditional retirement

You can find out more about the different types of retirement here

You can retire at 55 with £400k in the UK, as this might reasonably give you £12-16K income a year sticking to the recommended 3-4% a year safe withdrawal rate.

However that barely covers minimum income standards in the UK for a single person and is less than the £18K a couple will need for a basic retirement according to industry estimates.

If you can live on 12K-£16K per year. Great. But if your income needs are greater you might struggle. For instance, if you plan to take 50K per year your pension pot will be gone in around 8 years. So you need to do your homework before you make a decision.

Read the full article

If the idea of early retirement appeals to you, but you don’t quite have the retirement savings to fund a full early retirement, you might be looking for other solutions. 

The Pension freedoms announced in 2015 allow you to access your private pension pot from 55, which offers a whole world of flexibility in terms of retirement age and working in retirement.  You might be surprised at the number of options that are available to you for taking a pension early and continuing to work.

You can take your private pension at 55 and still work. And if you have a defined contribution pension you could access part or all of your private pension at 55 to fund a phased retirement or early semi-retirement but there are tax implications of doing this.

Want to know how much you might pay on a pension lump sum? Click here for 5 of the best calculators.

As soon as you take your pension as income you'll trigger the Money Purchase Annual Allowance, even if you later opt to stop taking an income from your pension. This has massive implications for the amount you can pay into your pension and still receive tax-relief on,

Learn more about the Money Purchase Annual Allowance.

Need help? Schedule a call to talk to one of our expert IFAs.

The increased choice and flexibility for accessing your pension in the UK has brought with it added responsibility and risk. Many people are now also questioning whether they need a financial adviser for their pension. A study of those with pensions in flexi-access drawdown, carried out by insurance giant Zurich, found that​​​​​​​ a large percentage were unprepared and uneducated about the risks they were taking on. Despite that many were choosing to go it alone without consulting a financial adviser. 

You don’t need a financial advisor for the state pension or guaranteed pensions. But if your pension is based on investment performance it would be a wise move. Zurich estimates that almost 41% of those in drawdown without advice will run out of money in retirement

That’s not to say that you absolutely need a financial adviser but the evidence published by Royal London in 2019  suggests that you’ll be wealthier in the long-term if you have one.

Financial advisers don’t have a crystal ball when it comes to investing, but they have been trained to take into account all of the moving parts that make long-term financial planning so complex.

Need more reasons to work with a financial advisor? Read the full article here