Will you work into old age or save now to avoid poverty in retirement?
Read a great article the other day by Ian Cowie of the Daily Telegraph. It touches on a very real issue for most of us. Many people assume that retirement is so far down the line that they’ll be alright in the end and their state pensions will suffice. Really? Not that easy to maintain your working lifestyle on about £5000 per year! Another assumption is that you’ll need less in retirement because your expenditure will drop off significantly. Again, I’ll challenge that because most people I meet approaching retirement have no notion of cutting their lifestyle: if anything they intend to spend more now that they have the time.
Another phrase I hear repeated over and over is “Pensions are worthless”. Unfortunately the media distorts the truth – pensions in themselves are not worthless but for sure consumers can make stupid investment decisions with regard to how their pension fund is invested.
Ian Cowie says “any fool can opt out of saving but it’s more difficult to opt out of growing old. Now here comes the PPI to remind us of these eternal truths. For most people – that is, those of us outside the index linked taxpayer subsidised cocoon of public sector pensions – the choice is still between working longer, saving harder or retiring poorer…. if you think pensions are boring, how exciting do you think poverty in old age will be?”
Seriously, the sooner you address your future income and plans the less you’ll have to put away now… Contact me today and stop guessing about the future – together we’ll design a retirement plan with an investment strategy to match.
02870351164 or david@gibsonfp.com
By David Gibson
