Retirement planning
Life expectancy in the UK is increasing at a rate of five hours every day (source, Life Trust), which means that you have a very fair chance of living significantly longer than your parents.
In fact, if you’re 40 now, you have a 49% chance of reaching the ripe old age of 90. And if you’re already into your 60s you needn’t think you can start spending all your cash now either, because if you’re 65 today, you’ve got a 42% chance of reaching 90 (source, Life Trust).
So, barring accidents, we’re going to see a long old age, but will we have the money to fund it?
Personal pension plans, stakeholder pensions, company pensions and final-salary schemes, annuities, self-invested private pensions etc, etc – one of these might apply to you, but will it provide enough cash to fund all those long years in retirement?
Did you know that in 2005 the Government’s Pension Commission identified non saving into pensions as one of the biggest problems facing the affordability of retirement? The TUC says that only 39% of the working-age population has joined a private pension scheme and a new government report, Attitudes to Pensions, reveals that 29% of people prioritise spending today over saving for tomorrow.
It is also reported that too few women are saving for the future, most likely because of the continuing pay gap between men and women, less financial confidence experienced by many women and spending on family first and the future second. (source: Aurora/Women into the Network)
The Government plans to introduce new rules in 2012 to make employees earning more than £5,000 a year enrol in a low-cost pension saving vehicle called a personal account. Of course, you can opt out, but you can’t avoid being enrolled in the scheme, which will oblige you to pay in a minimum 4% of your salary (unless you’re already in a company pension scheme).
All this should be enough to make you think about what are set to be very long retirement years and our advisers are highly experienced in retirement planning, working with you to ensure you know what’s coming to you and how you can make the most of it.
We are also here to guide you through the changes coming in 2012 and, because we are fully independent, we can search the whole of the market for products with the potential to provide retirement solutions for you.
Use the contact tag on the menu on the left of this page, or telephone 01434 607 808 for an appointment with an experienced adviser.
Making the most of your investments and tax breaks
Take action to secure long-term care costs
If you don’t protect your income, you can’t retire!
