Once you have retired, you might think the hard financial work is over.
Unfortunately, this simply isn’t the case.
If you have retired over the past few years, the decisions you took then should be reviewed on a regular basis, to ensure you are achieving your financial goals. Of course, if you retired without setting goals, or putting a proper plan in place, it’s not too late to right that wrong.
Most people have two simple goals in retirement; to live the life you want, whilst leaving behind a legacy for your loves ones.
The introduction of Pension Freedoms in 2014 also mean that anyone who retired recently should review the decisions they have taken.
Typically, the clients we work with who have already retired are:
- Drawing down income from their pensions as and when it is needed and decided not to buy an Annuity
- Concerned that the current level of income is sustainable in the long term
- Equally concerned about the effect a period of prolonged social care would have on their assets and the amount they are able to leave to their loved ones
- Concerned about how their investments are performing and how they would withstand a fall in the stock market
- Worried about low interest rates and the effects of inflation on their savings and income
- Wanting to help their children or grandchildren financially, but unsure whether or not they can afford to do so
- Concerned about the amount of Inheritance Tax that would become due on their death
As we’ve said before, everyone’s retirement is as different as their fingerprint. But, the need for a regularly reviewed financial plan, is common to us all.
Things change. Take Pension Freedoms, or the amount we are all expected to pay for social care as a prime example. Stock markets rise and fall, interest rates remain low and inflation eats in to our capital and income. All of these things, plus your own circumstances, mean that regular reviews of your finances are imperative if your retirement is to be financially secure and successful.
