Spring Clean Your Financial Arrangements

Retirement – it’s in front of you – oh yes it is!

Less than half of the total workforce is saving enough into a pension fund. A further 13% are doing some saving in a pension, but not enough for a decent retirement income. It seems the remaining 9.6 million working adults (34%) are just hoping for the best – with their head in the clouds

Apparently almost half of us have ‘no idea’ how much of a state pension the Government will provide and a further third have only a vague idea. Despite this, almost a quarter of working adults expect most of their retirement income to come from the state pension. Women are more likely than men to become widowed, becoming even more reliant on the state pension.

There is, for many of us, a substantial gap between the retirement income that we would like and that which we are on course to achieve. The message ‘you have to save for your retirement’ is simply not getting through. We are staring at a whole generation of pensioner poverty.

It’s simple, we can save more or we can retire later. Most people don’t relish the thought of working longer than their parents or grandparents did, and hardly anyone admits to being happy to accept a much lower standard of living in retirement. But if you want to plan for your future financial well-being the first step must come from you.

IFA’s can’t wave a magic wand but we can show you just what Retirement looks like for you to decide what action you need to take. Pension saving is a long-term commitment, so you need as much time as possible to build up the required funds.

Now is also an ideal time to review your mortgage arrangements. With base rate falling to 0.5% new mortgage facilities are gradually working their way into the market place with a number of attractive rates and terms starting to appear. With rates so low now might just be the time to take a long term outlook and fix rates for stability over the next few years. Borrowers with decent levels of equity are particularly attractive to lenders and should review existing arrangements to catch current rates.

Make this spring the time you spring clean your financial arrangements. Contact a qualified IFA for free, no-obligation review meeting.