Will you be able to afford the retirement lifestyle you want?

If you’re still working, what kind of life would you like to lead when you’ve said goodbye to the 9-to-5? Savings for your retirement is essential  if you want the financial freedom to enjoy your later years. After all, you’ll still want to do all the things you love now – and probably a few others too.

With that in mind, it’s a good idea to consider how big an income you’ll actually need. But at the heart of today’s challenge is rising longevity. UK life expectancy continues to rise, and a longer retirement means your savings will have to stretch further.

Pensions and Individual Savings Accounts are popular ways of saving tax-efficiently, but they are very different from each other – particularly in how they are taxed.

Pensions – crucial, but curtailed

Pensions should play an important part in everyone’s long-term financial planning, so ensure that you make the most of any employer’s contributions. Your own contributions are typically also tax-free on the way in, making them a very tax-efficient way to save.

However, when planning long-term savings, savers with big aspirations for their retirement need to bear in mind the lifetime allowance and annual allowance.

Ways to boost your pension in the run-up to retirement

Even if retirement isn’t far away, there are steps you can take to increase your retirement income.

  1. Maximise any contributions from your employer
  2. Increase your regular payments when you can
  3. Pay in a lump sum
  4. Review your investment choices

Talk to us sooner rather than later!

Professional financial advice is important before making decisions around pension saving strategy. Whether your retirement is still some time away or it is fast approaching, it’s important to get a clear view of how close you are to achieving your aims. If you don’t think you’ll have enough money when you retire, there are a number of approaches you could take to build a bigger pot, but you’ll need to talk to us sooner rather than later.

Please contact us – we look forward to hearing from you.