Plan Now for the Long Holiday

It sounds very enticing – and it’s called retirement. The only snag, of course, is that you have to pay for it in advance, and the earlier you start paying for it, the better your lifestyle is going to be when you do stop working.

If you haven’t made adequate provision you are running a serious risk of outliving your savings once you have stopped working.

So how much are you going to need to fund this long-lasting holiday?

1. Consider what annual income you would like to maintain your standard of living, if you were stop work today.
2. Think about what other income you receive aside from work and where it comes from, i.e. rental income, bank interest, share dividends and state pensions.
3. Take account of any existing pension arrangements you have and what they may provide at retirement
4. Think about when you will realistically stop working and therefore need your retirement income.

One of the services we provide is target based retirement planning. If the above steps leave you with a shortfall of income, we can calculate what pension contributions or other planning you can implement to improve your position.

The latest round of new pension legislation means the need for professional advice has never been greater – the complexity of the legislation means it is all too easy to fall foul of the annual limits for contributions and the forthcoming reduced limit on your lifetime pension allowance.

The decisions you make today will help determine the standard of living likely to be enjoyed in retirement. But the longer you leave it to take action, the more expensive it will be to catch up and the more vulnerable you are to not maximising the tax and planning opportunities available to you.

For advice on pension planning please contact Susan Lovell, Financial Planning Manager, Streets Financial Consulting Plc. Email slovell@sfcplc.co.uk

Streets Financial Consulting Plc is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.