Our Approach To Retirement Planning

The first step is to estimate what income you are likely to need when you stop working. We appreciate this will change with time but it gives us a ballpark figure to start with.

Outgoings

Assume for this purpose that your mortgage is paid off and your children have flown the nest (if only!). After that you have your fixed outgoings (council tax, electricity, phone etc) and then your variable outgoings such as running a car, food, clothing etc.  Then work out what your leisure activities cost and how you would like to spend your time, for example do you prefer a country walk with a pie and a pint, or a luxury cruise every year?  As you can see this builds up into a ballpark figure of how much income will be required.  The next question is where is it coming from?

The bigger picture

This is often a bigger picture than just pensions and investments. For example you may plan to sell your business or have other sources of income such as rented property. You may expect to inherit a lump sum eventually.  Many people also forget to include the state pension in their calculations. 

When we have established how much you need and where it is going to come from we can identify whether further regular savings are required or if there is a gap can this be filled by amending your current strategy.