Taking control of your retirement plans

What does your dream retirement look like? What kind of lifestyle do you imagine? Understanding what you want to achieve is the first step. Is the key goal to maintain your lifestyle in retirement, or do you have different priorities? The changes in the retirement landscape mean people are adjusting their expectations for retirement.

There are so many “what if’s” and unknowns to take into consideration that retirement planning can feel daunting. What kind of retirement lifestyle can you actually expect? What if you want to (or need to) retire early? What if you or your partner needs care in older age? What if your children or grandchildren need financial support?

One-size-fits-all approach is redundant

Retirement planning will no longer consist of simply putting money aside each month and a one-size-fits-all approach is redundant. But with life expectancy still on the increase, the need to save and plan for retirement is becoming ever more critical.

Growing aspiration to combine work and leisure

The future of retirement is likely instead to see a fundamental change in people’s lifestyles with a growing aspiration to combine work and leisure to help manage the costs of a longer life expectancy.

Those saving for retirement will have different concerns and require solutions that are different to both those of the past and those offered by the majority of the market at present.

Protecting incomes and assets against unforeseen life events

Nor will retirement planning in future simply be a matter of generating a retirement income. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic shows how protecting incomes and assets against unforeseen life events, resulting in periods of unemployment and ill-health, should play a fundamental role in protecting our ability to save for the long-term during our working lives.

Depending on how far you are from retirement, you will have different options, but it is essential to plan to take control of your retirement plans and not leave it to chance.