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- 5 easy steps to plan the retirement you want
5 easy steps to plan the retirement you want
No matter when you plan to retire, it’s never too soon to start thinking about the retirement you want.
But you don’t have to be a pensions expert. Spending a bit of time now working out what you’ve got so far could help prepare you for the future and a better retirement.
Not sure where to start?
Follow our simple step-by-step guide.
Picture your lifestyle in retirement
Consider what age you will be and what lifestyle you’d like.
Gather details of your pensions and investments
Find out what all your pensions and investments add up to.
Forecast your retirement
Get a forecast and find out if you are on track.
Look at how to boost your retirement income
Find out what you can do to get that lifestyle you pictured.
Need more guidance or advice?
Get help when making decisions about your pensions.
Step 1: Picture your lifestyle in retirement
There’s no one size fits all when it comes to deciding how much income you’ll need for a good retirement. It depends on how you want to spend your time in retirement. If you have a partner, it’s important to talk about this together. Money and Pensions Service have a useful guide on talking about money with your partner (external link).
Some questions to help you picture your retirement are:
- When do I want to retire?
- Will I stop work completely or gradually move into retirement (maybe by doing part-time work)?
- What kind of lifestyle would I like?
- How might my spending habits change when I retire?
If you’re still not sure how much you should be aiming for – and most people aren’t – there are some helpful guidelines from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) on the Retirement Living Standards website (external link). They calculate that a single person needs about £10,000 a year for a minimum standard of living £20,000 a year for a moderate lifestyle and £30,000 for a comfortable one. For couples, the figures are £15,000, £30,000 and £45,000. But these figures are indicative only, and you should consider your own circumstances.
If you are interested in flexible retirement – reducing the hours you work and drawing on some of your pension benefits – first take a look at the pros and cons.
Step 3: Forecast your retirement
You can get a forecast of how much retirement income you’ll have from your State Pension and any workplace and personal pensions you have by using a pension calculator. It can also show you what effect increasing your pension payments, changing your retirement age or changing the amount of tax-free cash you take has on your retirement income.
If you have a partner, you could do this for both of you so you have an overall view.
Pension Calculator (external link) from MoneyHelper is simple to use and can give you an estimate of the income you’ll get when you retire based on various pensions.
We also have some great planning tools to help you think about how to reach your goals.
Get in touch
If you have questions about your Royal London pension, please get in touch using our online form.
Pension scams
Finally, be especially alert to pension scammers who try to tempt you with offers of, amongst other things, high investment returns. Read more on common pension scams (external link).
