For many, the idea of retirement means getting away from the stresses of everyday life. But with living costs rising and interest rates low, people need to think about how to generate extra income from their savings in retirement.
The rules around pensions are continuously changing. To make the most of your retirement, it’s essential to receive regular professional financial advice on how to build up and invest your pension effectively.
Valuable employer contributions encourage people to stay
More people in the UK are saving towards retirement than ever before, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with numbers boosted thanks to the Government’s auto-enrolment scheme. Under auto-enrolment, employees are automatically signed up to a workplace pension into which both they and their employers must contribute. Workers can opt out of the scheme if they want to, but the hope is that valuable employer contributions will encourage people to stay. The scheme was introduced in October 2012 to boost the numbers of people planning for retirement and began with the largest employers first, followed by medium-sized, then small employers.
The onwards march of ‘pretirement’ – where people scale back on work or slow their retirement plans down rather than giving up entirely – is continuing, with half (50%) of those retiring this year considering working past State Pension age.
It’s bad news for romantics, according to the latest annual research[1] into the retirement aspirations and financial planning of UK couples aged 40 and over. This identifies that nearly one in three couples (31%) have secret savings or investments that they have deliberately started without telling their partner or spouse. And it’s not just a few pounds, as 7% admit to hiding savings of over £50,000.