Are you 10 years or less away from retiring?

You’ve spent your working life saving and you can almost taste retirement. The decisions you make from here on could have a considerable impact on the size of your retirement savings pot and whether or not you can achieve the required income you need once you stop working.

I work with clients to help them see a snapshot of how their current strategy will look at retirement. If needs be we look at alterations they may need to make to achieve their goals. Here are some of the things we discuss:

1. What are your expenses now and what might they be at retirement?  Although you may be well-practised in budgeting, many people don’t know what income they will need when they retire. Make a budget or get financial planning advice on how to integrate pension savings into a retirement plan. This will also allow you to see how much money you need for everyday life and for additional events such as holidays and hobbies in retirement.

2. What will be your sources of income post-retirement?  Once you’ve got an idea of what income you’ll need, it’s now time to start identifying where your income will come from. There are a few common sources of retirement income, such as pensions, rental income from property, savings, state pension.

3. Make the most of your pension contributions now.  As you’re later in your working life, it’s possible that you’ll be at the peak of your earnings which might make it easier to put extra money into your pension. Many people throw in significant lump sums into their pensions as they get closer to retirement.

4. Check your investments.  Once you get closer to retirement - say 10 years to go – it might suit you to amend your pension portfolio into ‘safer’ or low volatile investments. I heard many stories from the financial crash of 2008 about people who “lost a huge portion of their pension value near retirement”. Part of the problem was that many people didn’t understand where their money was invested or the volatility of their pension strategy.

5. Combine your pensions or maintain separate?  Having your pensions together could make them easier to manage, as well as help you to make more informed choices when it comes to saving for retirement. On the flipside, there are scenarios where it makes more sense for some people to have more than one pension.

6. Start thinking about your retirement options.  Do you know what options you will have with your pensions at retirement? How will that help you achieve your retirement goals?