Retirement Planning

“Will my pension and investments be worth enough to let me retire when I want?” - Cathy

Cathy was in her early fifties and getting to the point of wondering when she would be able to work reduced hours or, eventually, retire completely. She’d worked for a number of employers throughout her career, contributed to various pensions and tried to save in various investment accounts. But when we talked to her, she had no idea what they were all worth. So although she had definite ideas of what she wanted to do in her retirement, i.e. step off the treadmill of work and travel the world, she didn’t know whether she’d been saving enough or when exactly she could retire.

We did some investigation and produced a complete picture of what her various pensions and investments were worth. We also produced a complete financial plan in line with her attitude to risk so she knew how much she could spend and how much she should save to give her enough income in retirement. With this knowledge at her fingertips, Cathy could plan realistically and even start to get excited!

A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55(57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available