We delivered a workshop at the Cranleigh Arts Centre on Saturday morning providing attendees with a track to run on as far as planning for retirement was concerned.
What were the ten key action points that we described?
When. What is your selected retirement day and most importantly how did you determine that was the age you wanted?
In some way was it forced upon you or did you have an element of choice in the matter?
We discussed how retirement means different things to different people and that today it may well mean something very different to what it meant to people in the past.
For some it might be more about slowing down into retirement than coming to a full stop. Perhaps a combination of some work days and some retirement days each week.
Financial Audit. We recommended that all attendees carry out a financial audit considering what their disposable income looked like today and how it might change in the future and at retirement.
Key to this is to have a budget statement setting out how and what you spend your money. A net worth statement is a valuable part of the audit, knowing how much capital you might employ in the future to generate income.
Debt Planning. We discussed the importance of having a debt repayment plan so that when the client arrived at retirement they were in the envious position of not having to use hard earned retirement income to pay off such debt.
Lifestyle of choice. We encouraged delegates to consider the various sources of income they might have for example State pension benefits, private or employer pension benefits and income from cash accounts and investments and to consider if that would deliver the retirement lifestyle they actually wanted.
Risk. We pointed out that we often came across people who were taking greater risk with their pension funds and investments than they should take. Knowing what income you actually need in retirement can often result in less of the need to take risk with their portfolios.
State pensions. We encouraged attendees to take advantage of the superb free service fromGovernment and to obtain a State pension forecast so that they could see what contribution to income is source would provide.
Downsizing. If done through choice we felt this was worth considering. After all people often have the single biggest financial resource locked up in their property. But we also warned of the potential costs involved in such an approach such as stamp duty.
Wills and Lasting Powers of attorney. Whilst it might not be seen an aspect of retirement planning, having valid wills and a lasting power of attorney in place was sound financial planning and we recommend that suitable professional advice is taken from a Solicitor.
IHT planning. Again not necessarily a key aspect of retirement planning it is an important point to consider at the same time and to ensure that a strategy is in place to deal with the financial consequences of death after retirement.
Have a strategy. We brought the session together by asking the delegates to consider having a strategy for retirement so that they stood a fighting chance of achieving their retirement goals and objectives.
