Worked hard all your life? Check.
Missed out on family time? Check.
Given up leisure activities or hobbies? Check.
If you are lucky enough to be approaching retirement and are looking forward to collecting that carriage clock and heading off into the sunset, well done. You deserve it.
However, as it’s possible you could spend between a quarter and a third of your life in retirement, how do you make sure you are ‘retirement-ready’?
Two questions you are likely to ask yourself when thinking about retiring are ‘How will I fill the time?’ and ‘How much money will I have when I stop working?’
Working out how you will fill your time is probably the easier of the two to answer. The author C S Lewis once wrote ‘you are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream’ and you may already know exactly how you want to spend that time.
Would you like to learn a new language? Do you intend to travel more? Or do you plan to put your feet up after a busy working life and relax more, see the family, walk the dog, etc.?
We usually find it easy to think about enjoyable things to do, but how do we make sure we are financially ready to retire?
The first thing I would encourage you to do is to work out what you spend, on what, while you are still working. If you can cut out any unnecessary expenditure, could you save more now to spend in retirement?
You should also make sure you have a note of all the pension plans and other investments you hold, and also request a state pension forecast. All of these are potential sources of income in retirement. It is also important that you consider tax allowances and draw income in the most tax-efficient way.
The checklist overleaf will help you to focus on some important aspects of planning for your retirement. There is also a lot of support out there and using the help and advice that is available will help you make the best decisions for you and your family and will hopefully set you up for many enjoyable years of retirement.
If you require financial advice from Mattioli Woods, please feel free to contact us.
Get in touch
For more information or to arrange a free consultation, please email us at info@mattioliwoods.com.
