WHAT is retirement planning? Let’s deal with this first and foremost. Retirement planning is very simply you taking control of your finances and preparing for a steady stream of money being available for you after retirement. It entails you putting funds aside, but, in order to get there, there are things you need to ask yourself.
A few key questions you will need to answer are;
- At what age do you want to retire?
- What income do you think you will need?
- What will inflation be between now and your retirement? The reason you need to think about this is because you will have to adjust your assumptions as you move forwards particularly in periods of high inflation.
- What will inflation be in retirement?
- How much would you like your pension to increase in retirement?
- Would you like to take a tax free cash lump sum in retirement?
- What state pension will you receive and when?
- How much net growth will your pension receive after charges, in other words, how badly, or how well is it invested?
- Would you like the pension to remain invested in retirement to assist with Inheritance Tax Planning and flexibility and do you know what risk that means to the performance of your money?
- Do you simply want to take a guaranteed income in retirement?
- What fluctuations are you happy with in your pension investment as it grows?
- Do you wish to include your state pension in the calculations given the government’s continuous alterations and reductions to what is arguably the worst in the developed world?
- Will you be retiring abroad and, if so, what affect will that have on the increases to your state pension?
There’s no doubt about it – there’s a lot for you to think about but that’s ok and you’ll likely recognise at this stage the need for help from one of our independent financial advisers.
The above are pretty standard things to think about and have answers to but with each of these answers comes a whole host of new questions which also need to be answered.
Retirement Planning
Retirement planning is a complex topic, like most other areas of financial planning, but, there are answers for everything and our advisers will talk you through each of these questions. They will go through your current pension pot and work backwards in order to work out how you can achieve what you want to achieve in your retirement.
As we mentioned before, people start retirement planning at different stages of their lives. But, if you’re reading this and you’re in your late 20s or early 30s, with each pound placed in your fund today, you’re giving it longer to grow so be positive about taking action now.
Worldwide Financial Planning Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are a team of award winning independent financial advisers which means we are able to choose the very best products from different companies and give you the best options which suit your individual needs.
We hope this has given you something solid to think through and when you are ready, book a consultation with one of our advisers by emailing info@wwfp.net and let’s get your money working for you. If you would like to delve a little bit further before getting in touch with us, read Pension Planning With Worldwide Financial Planning as it outlines the next stage of the process.