Don’t wait until you retire to start enjoying life! Focus your time and energy maximising your enjoyment of life now, not maximising your wealth in retirement. That said, you do need some money to live the retirement life you want. Accumulate the amount of wealth you need to live a life in retirement you want and not a penny more. Anything more means you have wasted part of your life building wealth you will not need to before you die.
How do you live your best retirement life
- Work out home much money you may need each year you live your ideal retirement life;
- Assess your retirement fund creation options and how likely you are to create the size of retirement savings you will need;
- Make a retirement plan, at least in your head, but preferrably written down so you don’t miss important details when you review your retirement plan at least annually. No retirement plan is 100 percent effective, so you need to know once a year at least what is working and what isn’t, so you can make adjustments and corrections.
Adjustments and corrections are likely after a few years and particularly as you approach your retirement age. Adjustments and corrections could be major in nature. If your retirement fund is not big enough to match your desired retirement lifestyle, you may need to change the lifestyle you live in retirement. Major changes to retirement lifestyle plans should not be necessary every year, even if your retirement plan investments have not performed as you expected over 12 months as bad years can normally be recovered over the longer term. However, if you are close to retirement age you want for yourself, you may not have enough time for your retirement savings to recover in time. 5 years before your planned retirement age you should alter your retirement savings strategy to prepare you for a smooth transition from working to retirement.
What should you not do in retirement
You should not make hasty rapid retirement fund decisions. You may feel a need to act due to something which happens to you or something which happens in the world at large. Acting in haste will give you plenty of time to repent at your leisure!
If you are in retirement or close to your retirement age, always seek professional financial advice or at least do your own thorough research and due diligence checks before making changes to your retirement fund. Sometimes the change can cause you to lose financially. For example, tax implications or financial penalties for making change can cut what you will have to spend in your retirement, whether what you moved your money to is a good investment or not. Whether an investment is a good one or not depends more on your personal circumstances than the investment vehicle itself.
Planning and preparing for retirement
Do you know what benefits you will get when you retire? There are benefits calculators and pension calculators galore. Make sure, before you retire, what the state effectively forecasts you will get in retirement benefits.
- You want to make sure you do not draw more on your retirement fund you have created for yourself than you have to to finance your retirement lifestyle. What monies the state will give you need to be built in to your retirement planning.
- There can be ways to boost your retirement benefits if you have underpaid. However, in addition, sometimes there is no point in filling in missing years, for example, if it will not actually increase the retirement benefit you will become entitled to in retirement.
- Knowing what happens to your retirement benefits if you retire early or delay your retirement could influence when you retire.
Know what benefits you will be able to claim. Check what pensions and financial support you can get, and decide when to retire. Add this knowledge to your own knowledge of the retirement fund you create for yourself over your working life whether from pensions, property, Bitcoin, gold or just what’s under the mattress!
How much should I save for retirement
Retiring is not just about clocking off from your working life to live a hopefully better life in retirement. Retirement lifestyle planning should facilitate a better retirement lifestyle is you complete an ongoing thorough retirement process you review periodically.
If you know how much you will have in your retirement, you will be much better placed to decide how to spend it.
Putting some money away every month, as early as possible in your working life is a good habit to start and continue over your whole working life. The powerful effect of compounding interest on retirement savings and investments will hopefully mean you will not have to put more money away from your working life and will mean you will have more money to enjoy before you retire.
A pension is simply a tax efficient wrapper you can put your money into to hopefully grow your retirement fund faster and/or mean you have to save more of your working life income. A pension may be the right way for you to save as much money as you will need for your chosen retirement lifestyle, but it’s not by any means the only or best way for everyone.
The right wealth planning at any time of your life should include an acknowledgement that you may never reach retirement age. Improving your life should include the discipline to improve your whole life not just your retirement life.
Early Retirement Factors To Consider Before Retirement UK
There are many factors to consider before retiring early in the UK. Some of the most important factors include:
- Your financial situation: How much money do you have saved up for retirement? Will you have enough income to cover your expenses in retirement?
- Your health: Are you in good health? Will you be able to afford the cost of healthcare in retirement?
- Your lifestyle: What kind of lifestyle do you want to have in retirement? Will you be able to afford to travel, go out to eat, and enjoy other activities?
- Your family and friends: What kind of support network do you have? Will you have people to spend time with and help you in retirement?
- Your job satisfaction: Are you happy with your job? If you retire early, will you miss it?
It is important to weigh all of these factors carefully before making a decision about whether or not to retire early. There is no right or wrong answer, and the best decision for you will depend on your individual circumstances.
Here are some additional things to consider when planning for early retirement in the UK:
- State Pension: The State Pension is a government-funded pension that is paid to people who have reached retirement age. The amount of State Pension you receive will depend on your National Insurance contributions.
- Pensions: You may have a workplace pension or a private pension. Your pension will provide you with an income in retirement.
- Savings and investments: You may have savings and investments that you can use to supplement your income in retirement.
- Your home: You may be able to downsize your home or release equity in your home to generate income in retirement.
- Other sources of income: You may be able to generate income in retirement from other sources, such as part-time work, rental income, or investments.
It is important to get professional financial advice to help you plan for early retirement. A financial advisor can help you assess your financial situation, create a retirement plan, and make sure you are on track to reach your retirement goals
What do I need to know about retirement?
