Top 5 Tips to keep you on track for a comfortable retirement

1. Review your existing pensions regularly
It is sensible to review your pensions at least once a year to help ensure that you are on track to meet your retirement goals and to understand what your pensions are likely to provide for you when you retire. Put simply, not reviewing your pension could have serious implications for your comfort in retirement, as you don’t want to find out that you’re not on target to achieve the standard of living you want in retirement when it’s already too late.

Make sure you understand how your pensions are performing and keep an eye on any under performing funds.

You should also beware of high charges. Typically, pensions have lower costs now than they used to, so if you have older pension plans that were set up some time ago, you may be paying more in charges than you should be.

2. Join your company pension scheme
It makes sense for most people to join their company pension scheme. These schemes are usually good value and auto enrollment means that all employers now have to pay into eligible employees’ pensions.

3. Choose the right investments for you
When choosing investments within a pension it can often pay to spread them around to reduce the level of risk. For example, investing in just one fund can carry the risk that if that fund manager performs badly, your entire pension fund will suffer.

Investing in shares is likely to give you the best long term returns, although as your pension fund gets bigger and as you get closer to retirement you may want to hold more money in other assets such as cash, fixed interest and property, as capital protection becomes as important as capital growth.

4. Don’t forget about your State pension!
From April 2020, the full new single-tier state pension is £175.20 a week, meaning that those who are entitled to it will receive over £9,000 a year.

To find out what state pension you could be entitled to and when you’re likely to receive it, you should obtain a State pension forecast. These can be obtained online at https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension.

Also see whether there is anything you can do to boost this, such as making extra contributions.

5. Take independent financial advice
Retirement planning can be complex, and getting it wrong could have a huge impact on your standard of living in the future, so it’s important to make the right decisions to achieve your retirement goals.
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If you’re not entirely sure what you’re doing, then you should take independent financial advice and contact us now on 01428 909266 or at info@podiumfinancial.co.uk for an initial no obligation consultation at our cost.
 
A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55. The value of your investment (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.