In the back
[ PLATFORMS & PENSIONS ]
46 / 47
John Blowers reveals how to work
out the age at which you can
afford to retire
Say when…
I
f ever there was a $64,000
question, “when can I afford
to retire?” is it. There are so
many variables – some known
and some unknown – that it makes
creating a rule of thumb or a specific
number nigh on impossible.
Yet we save into a pension every
month in the expectation that at the
age of 67 – give or take a few years
– we will have saved enough to stop
working.
So let’s have a go at working out
what we have saved will actually buy
us. Apologies if this looks more like a
maths lesson, but it’s a useful exercise
to try at home, particularly if you are
some way off retirement, as there are
actions you can take now to improve
your living conditions when you draw
your pension.
Most people in the UK have no
idea what their pension pot will
actually deliver in terms of income
in retirement. Worse still, many have
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This is the fundamental
question that every person
with a pension should be
asking themselves: “What is
my pension actually buying
me and is it what I want?”
given little thought as to what they
intend to do in retirement and what
that lifestyle may cost. I believe this
is the fundamental question that
every person with a pension should
be asking themselves: “What is my
pension actually buying me and is it
what I want?”
Breath-taking ignorance
It seems ridiculous, because a pension
is probably the biggest savings
exercise anyone will carry out in their
lifetime, yet the level of ignorance
around the subject is breath-taking.
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