For most people, retirement is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it means that you no longer have to worry yourself with the often-stressful world of work. But lots of people worry about their finances after retirement. If you are one of those people, here are some simple things you can do to secure your finances.
Plan for Your Pension Income
We all have that one friend who seems to have been planning their financial future since they received their first pocket money. For these people, good financial health appears to be second nature. All those good habits that most of us have never been able to grasp are innate in some people. The good news is that it is never too late to grab the reins and seize control of your destiny. If there is just one good habit that will make all the difference to your finances, it is planning.
Planning forces you to not only think about your future but to seriously assess your present circumstances. You can’t make plans for what to do next if you don’t know what your starting position is. As your retirement approaches, you should have a reasonably good idea of how your finances will look. In particular, you need to know what your expected income and outgoings are going to be.
Most retirees in the UK will draw their income from a pension or pensions. Private pensions have been growing in popularity for decades. Many people choose to start contributing to a private pension long before they plan on retiring. Private pensions enable contributors to benefit from a variety of tax breaks and are an effective way of investing for your future.
Consult with a Financial Planner
Independent financial planners can be an invaluable source of impartial advice when it comes to managing your money. Financial planners will have a much more comprehensive view of the savings and investments landscapes. Their experience and knowledge mean that they can put forward suggestions that you would never think of yourself, things that you didn’t even know existed.
The rules around pensions have changed a lot in recent years. Because of these rule changes, many people find themselves facing a very different pensions market from the one that their parents had to navigate. As a result, people planning for their retirement aren’t able to take advantage of their parents’ experience and knowledge. However, it is the job of a financial planner to keep up to date with all the latest changes to pension rules.
Businesses like Portafina exist to provide clients with the best pension advice they can. As an FCA-regulated company, Portafina offers reliable information that you can trust. Whatever your background or pre-existing knowledge, Portafina will help you to hone in on the options that make the most sense for you.
Consulting with a financial planner sooner rather than later will enable them to make a more significant difference to your finances. If you start taking your finances seriously before you reach your 30th birthday, you will have much more time to get things in order. It’s never too late to start taking your finances seriously. However, we would advise you to speak to a financial planner as soon as possible.
Know Your Entitlements
In the UK, there is a range of social security schemes to which UK citizens are entitled. Contrary to the image that many people have in their heads, it isn’t just those in poverty or dire straits who can claim these benefits. There are several such benefits explicitly aimed at retirees. It is worth being aware of what entitlements you can apply for, and here are some of the most important for retirees:
- Attendance allowance: This is an allowance available for people who need to purchase specialist equipment because of an illness or disability. This equipment can be something as simple as a personal alarm.
- Over 60s help: Every UK citizen over the age of 60 can access some NHS services for free. For example, eye exams and prescriptions are both free for over 60s. They can also apply for assistance with the costs of travelling to medical appointments and receiving dental care.
- Disability living allowance: The DLA is a recurring tax-free payment made to disabled people. It helps them to cover the costs of care and mobility associated with their disability.
Save Money on Bills and Utilities
Investing your money into a pension scheme or other investment product is an excellent way of shoring up your financial security. However, you shouldn’t overlook the numerous simple things that any of us can do to save money. The phrase, ‘if you take care of the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves’, is good advice to keep in mind. By working to reduce the amount that you spend on your monthly bills even a little bit, you can ultimately end up saving yourself a considerable amount of money.
The first thing to do is to make sure that you are currently getting the best deal available. There are plenty of price comparison websites out there that enable you to compare your options for utilities like electricity and gas. Few of us ever take the time to re-evaluate our utility providers after we have signed up. But given how easy it is to compare available offers using comparison websites, this is something that most of us would benefit from doing now and then.
Once you have found the best package available, you can then try to minimise your usage, and therefore your bills. For example, getting into the habit of turning your electronics off when you aren’t in the room can save you a surprising amount. If you can get your kids into the same habit, the savings could be astronomical.
It’s never too early, or too late for that matter, to start taking your finances seriously. Even seemingly tiny and insignificant changes can make an enormous difference to the amount of money you have available upon retirement. Why not investigate your private pension options today? After all, the sooner you start paying in, the better the benefits down the line.
