Contents:
- Editor's welcome
- David Marshall Red Arrow engineer
- Feel Good Picnics are highlight of summer
- Hanson Springs celebrates 60 years
- New independent vet practice opens in Milnrow
- Noise phobias in dogs
- Lemon drizzle cake
- GEM Appeal Strawberry Sparkle Lunch
- Budding photographer’s snap of Ellenroad Engine House Steam Museum wins monthly contest
- Hairdressing trend - bubble bob
- Town hall restoration: new stained glass windows for Mayor’s Dining Room
- Rochdale Classic Car & Bike Show
- A short history of Hare Hill House: The Newall Family
- Success for Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club at the European Championships
- Tour of Britain
- Health and wellbeing during Metal season
- Garlic chilli chicken with parmesan cream, gnocchi and seasonal tenderstem broccoli
- “It’s right on your doorstep and it deserves to be romanticised.”
- How late is too late to start saving for retirement? »
- Rochdale scent company inspires employee to write children’s novel
- Rochdale Masonic Hall
- New specialised dementia garden launched at Springhill Hospice
- A typical week for a football lawyer
- Silver for Petrus at Tatton
- New ‘Chatty Café’ to reduce loneliness and social isolation opens in Rochdale town centre
- Local independent fashion retailers shortlisted for Drapers Awards
Autumn 2023How late is too late to start saving for retirement?
When you’re considering your future and what to do with your money, it’s vital to ensure your financial security will continue into later life, when you’re no longer earning an income. But is it ever too late to start saving?
The answer is no, and this isn’t just a Pollyanna response from a pensions expert.
Why you should save money for retirement
Retirement has changed substantially; it used to be the norm to spend a 30-year career in one profession and for people to stop working entirely once they reached retirement age, which was usually around 60 to 65 years old.
For previous generations, retirement was often seen as the beginning of one’s twilight years, but nowadays, 60 is not ‘old’, given that many people who are currently in the workforce can expect to live much longer.
The life expectancy calculator from the Office for National Statistics predicts that a man aged 50 today will live to an average age of 84 years old.
Life expectancy rises sharply for younger people; a woman aged 30 today has an average life expectancy of 88.
With so many years ahead of you, it’s important to work out how you will fund them. Saving enough money to last someone for 30 or 40 years is a bigger challenge than when retirement lasted for ten or twenty years, as with previous generations.
Many people fund their retirement from a range of sources, including property, Cash ISA savings, Stocks & Shares ISAs, earnings, state pension and private pension pots.
This can be beneficial, because money can be withdrawn from each of these in different ways; for example, ISA savings can often be withdrawn tax free on demand (depending on the type of ISA), pensions allow people to withdraw a tax-free lump sum at retirement age, while income from a rental property may be monthly.
Why planning is important
It’s not enough to have savings, you also need a plan – and that’s why it’s a good idea to seek financial advice. It’s best to meet with your financial adviser regularly so they can look at your situation and at what age could you retire, what kind of lifestyle can you expect to have, could you go part-time, could you take a year off, or if you increase your saving, how would that improve your retirement prospects?
Reaching retirement age is not an ending; it’s the start of a new chapter in life. Putting the right plan in place will help ensure you can enjoy the future you want.
The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and may fall as well as rise. You may get back less than the amount invested.
The levels and bases of taxation, and reliefs from taxation, can change at any time. The value of any tax relief is generally dependent on individual circumstances.
About the writer
As director of Front Row Financial, Steven Worrall provides a truly holistic approach that demystifies financial advice and puts you in control, with tailored solutions and ongoing support to help you achieve your financial and lifestyle goals.