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Despite how important retirement is, many of us leave planning for it until the last minute. You might intend to get round to it soon, but ‘soon’ can easily become ‘next year’, and then too late. Most people don’t know how much money they will need to retire comfortably, and many don’t have a pension at all, so it’s clear a lot of us should be getting our plans in order. It’s never too early to plan for retirement, but it can be too late.
When Do You Want To Retire? When Can You?
Start by setting out your expectations for your retirement and take a careful look at your financial fitness. This will help you to work out if there is a gap between when you want to retire, and when you actually be able to.
What sort of lifestyle do you want to lead when you retire? Are you hoping for mortgage-free living in retirement? Do you hope to enjoy your retirement with travel and restaurants? Try to work out how much you expect to be spending each month.
Next, you should think about when you would like to retire. There are some tools out there that can help you to work out whether you’re on track to retire when you want.
By working out these things sooner rather than later, if you find you can’t reach your ideal retirement with your current position and the rate you’re saving at, you can start to think about how much more you will need to set aside every month in order to actually get to your retirement goal.
If you don’t get prepared, you could end up with much less saved up than you expected. Your goal of retiring at 60 could soon push back to 65, and then 70.
Delaying Could Cost You Thousands
If you start saving for your retirement at 30, you can save less every year than if you start saving at 50, and still end up with the same amount in your retirement fund. If you consider the cost of inflation, the true figure you’ll need to pay is probably going to be much more too.
Every year that you put off delaying planning for your pension means that you will have some extra catching up to do later on, which is when you will probably have more outgoings, thanks to a growing family or a larger mortgage. In the future, you won’t thank your present self for a lack of advance planning.
Retiring Isn’t Always A Choice
You might think of retirement as a milestone for later in life, but sometimes the choice of when you retire is not left up to you.
You might have to retire earlier than you planned due to poor health, a change in your family circumstances, or an unexpected redundancy. There are lots of reasons that you might find yourself having to stop working earlier than you had hoped.
If you don’t plan for unexpected circumstances like this, there can be a lot of consequences. Trying to support your family or pay your mortgage on a smaller pension than you had planned for would be a big problem for you.
When you think about the timing of your retirement might not be left up to you, early planning is clearly important.
There’s No Time Like The Present
Your retirement should a prospect that you can look forward to, not something that you worry about. And with some advance preparation and some smart savings, it can be.
A good way to properly prepare for your retirement so you can live comfortably and without worries, is to get some guidance from a skilled financial adviser. With help from an expert, you can put in place a long-term plan for your retirement that can help you to get in place everything you need to lead the life that you want after you retire. Getting help means that you don’t have to do the difficult calculations yourself, and can get expert advice to make the best decisions for yourself and your future.
In order to maximize the benefits that you will get when you decide to finally retire, it is essential that you act now. The sooner you start, the easier it will be to save the money that you need to retire when you want to and lead the life you want. When it comes to pension planning, there really is no time like the present to start planning and preparing.
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