Just having some form of savings or investment vehicle isn’t enough. Often when speaking to new clients we hear they don’t need a retirement plan as they have a work based pension. In reality, such pensions are provided to employees as a ‘benefit’ with very little regard for an individual’s personal aims and aspirations. You can learn more about the importance of a pension review for international workers by clicking here.
Retirement planning is all about ensuring you can still live the lifestyle you’ve worked so hard to achieve, even when the salary stops. In this new phase of your life, where you have more free time than ever before, you want to feel confident in the fact that every financial need can be taken care of without worry.The trick to retirement planning is to start saving as soon as possible to get the most from compound interest. A fund with 40 years to grow is more beneficial than one started a year before you retire. It’s not what you save, it’s when you save.
It’s important to think about what assets you have available at retirement. Do you think you’ll have enough?
When are where would you like to retire? And most importantly, what type of lifestyle would you like to sustain and what kind of income do you think you’ll need?
It’s a good idea to manage your income expenditure in line with your long-term retirement plan. If you’re the type of person who may be able to retire earlier or enjoy a greater lifestyle in your retirement, you may want to think about how you use your surplus cash and any bonuses you receive now. These could significantly improve your retirement prospects over the long term.
Review your investments to ensure growth targets are met. Review legislation to be confident changes won’t affect your plans. Review life changes to keep you on track for your dream retirement and ability for financial freedom once the paycheques stop.
You may have seen articles or calculators indicating ways to gauge how much you need to save before you can retire, and a 5% withdrawal rule is commonly referenced in retirement models. However, if you dream of retiring early or at least being able to work through choice rather than necessity, you will need to take into account how much bigger your savings pot needs to be to facilitate this.
Your Adviser will help you to work out which is the best solution for you depending on your needs and objectives. As pension legislation changes, so too do your options so it’s important to keep up to date. Careful pension planning is essential to any financial plan and getting it right is paramount. Skybound are supported by a specialist pensions team, and whether you choose to take a regular income, drawdown a lump sum; or both, our Advisers are on hand to help guide you through to retirement and beyond.
For many people, a pension usually represents a large percentage of their retirement plan, followed by property and general savings accounts. However, in recent years government incentives have made ISAs a key consideration. Skybound’s team of experienced Advisers will help you formulate a bespoke plan in line with your attitude to risk that will allow you to realise with your retirement dreams.
Creating a retirement plan is just the beginning. It’s important to ensure you make your money work for you because if it doesn’t, you will have to work longer. Regular reviews will make navigating the many complex tax breaks, benefits and allowances easier, and will ensure you don’t fall foul of any avoidable penalty charges.
Here at Skybound, we leave no stone unturned in our quest to help you realise your retirement dreams.
Retirement planning isn't something that can be sorted in one meeting or transaction, its a process that lasts from the moment we first meet until long after you have hung up your boots. But let us focus on that whilst you concentrate on today, with peace of mind your future is taken care of.
You can reach us directly by calling us between the hours of 8:30am and 5pm at each of our respective offices and we will immediately assist you.