I read a scary article this morning which has made me think about my retirement. I am 45 in two weeks and have readily accepted that I will probably be at work until I am 80! This is partly because I love my job and partly because I am not convinced I will ever be able to afford to retire. A This is Money article has just confirmed my suspicions. However, on reading This is Money I am going to have to do a lot more than I thought!
I have always been sensible and started to pay into my company retirement pension when I was 21. I understood that the earlier I started to save the better my pension would be. We have just encouraged our youngest members of the team to join our pension scheme at the age of 18as we want them to start saving early too.
According to This is Money nearly one in three people between the ages of 40 -55 are saving inadequate amounts and will only achieve an adequate standard of living whilst one in four will have to rely on the state pension or have no savings.
What scared me the most is that in order to have a moderate standard of living, to provide some financial freedom and resilience I should be putting 21.3% of my salary into my pension pot! That's an amazing figure bearing in mind I am still living, paying for a mortgage, bringing up kids and running a business.
It did make me think however. It is not just our pensions that should have a midlife review. How many of us in our 40s have a will? How many have put in place lasting powers of attorney? How many of us have spoken to our parents about these subjects? None of these are issues which should be ignored as they are all important and the ramifications of getting things wrong can be catastrophic for you and your family.
Yes, you can look at all of these things and complete them yourself but the benefit of employing an expert team to help can be invaluable. This is what we are here for. Expert advice tailored to your circumstances. Fixed costs to stop things from being scary and methods of payment that fit in with your lifestyle.
If you do need a midlife review why not give us a call to help.
To read the article in full here is the link
