Retirement Planning Advice

Planning for the future is never easy. It’s hard to imagine retirement and what your priorities will be years from now. Taking time to look at your options and planning ahead is the best way to make sure you can achieve your goals.

What is retirement planning?

Retirement planning is a general term that describes the process of thinking about the future, setting some retirement goals and, very importantly, putting financial plans in place to make sure you have money set aside.

From a financial point of view, it’s about making sure you have a pension in place and ensuring that you will have enough money to retire comfortably.

Why do I need to plan for retirement?

Retirement planning is more important than it has ever been. We are living longer than ever, and the State Pension alone is unlikely to provide enough income to live comfortably after retirement.

Plus, most of us hope to make the most of our retirement years, whether it be through pursuing hobbies and leisure activities, travelling the world or even moving overseas.

Retirement planning is essential in making sure that we can continue to achieve the lifestyle we want after we stop working.

How do I plan for retirement?

Planning for retirement can start as soon as you enter the workplace – when you join a pension scheme or contribute to a personal pension. The sooner you start paying funds into a pension pot, the better your chances of having a good income once you reach retirement age.

As you start to approach retirement there are a few steps to take to make sure your retirement savings will help you achieve your plans:

Trace old pensions

Make sure that you know where all your pension savings are. List out your previous employers and note whether you set up a pension while working there. A financial adviser will help you decide whether to consolidate various pension pots into a single scheme.

As a general rule, it’s usually worth leaving Defined Contribution Pensions where they are, as they offer good benefits. If you have lost the details of previous pensions, the Pensions Tracing service can help.

Deal with debts

It’s important to clear any debts before you reach retirement to make sure you can maximise the money you claim from personal pensions. Seek financial advice on how best to consolidate and reduce your debts.

Boosting your retirement income

By sitting down with a financial adviser you can work out your income in retirement based on your current pension funds. If you feel that you will need to boost your income post-retirement there are a number of options to consider.

You might choose to invest more heavily in your pension, to work for a longer time or to find other ways to boost your funds by downsizing your home or letting a room in your home.

Accessing your pension

With most pensions you can access the funds before you reach state pension age. The minimum age is usually 55 – this goes up to 57 from 2028.

You can take up to 25% of the money built up in your pension as a tax-free lump sum. You’ll then pay tax on the remaining 75%. Your options for the rest of your pension pot include:

• Taking all or some of it as cash
• Buying an annuity – a financial product that gives you a guaranteed income for life
• Investing it to get a regular, adjustable income with a flexi-access drawdown pension

What can we do for you?

Although most people don’t think about pensions and retirement until later in life, we recommend everyone puts plans in place as soon as possible in their careers for the most flexibility at retirement.

A financially rewarding retirement relies on a bespoke plan, which we can support you to create. We also specialise in offering pension and retirement advice for business owners and self-employed individuals.

We’ll help you design an approach to give you a suitable and tax efficient pension income.

How can CT Wealth Management help me?

Carter Thompson Wealth Management works with you to help you start a pension, review existing pension pots and put in place an extensive retirement plan.

We offer personal, professional advice about your individual financial circumstances and plans for retirement, to ensure you’re working towards a retirement that’s right for you, your income and assets.

We’re regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority through Openwork Limited, so you can be sure you’re in safe hands. Get in touch for a no-obligation chat.

The value of investments and any income from them can fall as well as rise. You may not get back the amount originally invested.