 Retirement
represents a major change in lifestyle and gives you a major new asset, time!
Everyone
approaches retirement from a different point of view, and even when you are looking
forward to it, you can feel a sense of loss, no longer mixing with work colleagues.
Whatever your feelings, retirement is probably the major opportunity of your life
for a new and potentially very enjoyable phase of life in which you and not others manage
your time.
Planning for
retirement
It is essential to plan ahead for this significant change. There are lots of links to
detailed information opposite, but below is a checklist of things to consider:
Finances are
important but not everything
Don't forget to assess all areas, such as how you want to spend your time, not just the
financial implications of retirement
Your Partner
Consider the implications of you being retired on your partner.
Include in your plans things that will take you out of the house.
Social &
Contact Activities in retirement
Plan for activities
both with your partner and without. If you have no partner consider how you will involve
yourself in social and contact activities in retirement.
Work &
Paying Hobby options in retirement
Perhaps you don't want to stop working altogether when you retire - is this the
time to work part time, even start your own business or make a paying sideline out of a
hobby.
Fitness &
Health in retirement
Plan into your time how you will maintain your fitness.
Mental Health
Build into your retirement plans mental and creative activities e.g. learn a new
language. For some types of mental activities we are at our peak around this time. there
are now lots of opportunities for continued lifelong learning into retirement
Voluntary Work
You have got skills and time why not use them for the benefit of others.
Family
If you've got children or grandchildren Consider how you can spend some of your retirement
time to help their development, (without being too intrusive).
Get things in
order
Retirement is an opportunity to get everything in order ranging from those jobs
in the house and garden to Wills and planning inheritance.
Financial
Planning
You need to consider your retirement budget and associated investment plans.
Consider not only your pension position but your partners too. Identify where to go for
retirement investment advice. What will it cost to continue benefits offered by your
employer into retirement. What will be the effect of not having to pay National Insurance
contributions.
Enjoying life
Once you have your retirement plans in place, don't forget this is the time for really enjoying laterlife.
Consider a laterlife
Planning Retirement seminar to help make the most of your retirement
Also make sure you
take a look at Lifting the lid off retirement, a
series written by Jeanne Davis as part of the laterlife interest features section. Jeanne
is the author of “How to Plan Your
Successful Retirement” and for many years, she was a director of AARP (The American
Association of Retired Persons)
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We have collected below useful sources of information to help think about and plan
retirement, plus details of companies offering retirement planning and financial planning
services.
If you are interested in some assistance take a look at our section on Pre-retirement training
and the laterlife Planning Retirement workshops we have introduced for both
individuals
and organisations.
Also make
sure you take a look at Lifting the lid
off retirement, a series written by Jeanne Davis as part of the laterlife
interest features section. Jeanne is the author of “How to Plan Your Successful Retirement” and for
many years, she was a director of AARP (The American Association of Retired Persons)
Independent Financial
Advice
If you want independent financial advice and in particular retirement planning advice, visit our independent financial advice pages, which highlight topics to consider and provide details of how to find an independent financial advisor near you. The first of these pages also gives you some help with the things that you need to consider when you are doing some financial planning for retirement:
Retirement Planning
Pensions
Inheritance Tax
Making a Will
Equity Release
Long Term Care
Annuity Supermarket
Finding an Independent Financial Advisor
Financial Retirement Information
Investing in
Property at Home and Abroad including a Guide to buying
property abroad.
You
and your money The Business and Money section of the BBC site includes useful pensions
information - pension basics, alternatives and issues including early retirement and the
taxmans rules.
Visit our Insurance Section
covering Motor
Insurance,
Home Insurance, Travel
Insurance and Life
Insurance geared to the over 50s. You can obtain competitive quotes online from UK Insurance companies.
 Prudential (UK) -
Investments, Savings, Pensions, Insurance, Mortgages. Retirement planning from one of the
UKs leading financial services companies. This tells you about the products and services
Prudential offer to make your retirement secure and trouble free.
FIND - The UK's leading internet directory for financial
services. From here you can find the sites of the UKs financial services companies
and locate them by the topic you want to know about - pensions, life assurance,
investment, and insurance to name but a few.
Free Personal Finance Service at
moneyeXtra - Home Page is a great general financial information page, which can help
you make the most out of your money in retirement. You can get advice on mortgages and
investments, how to cut your bills, and different types of loans and accounts. Plus
financial news.
 Also be sure to take a look at
Ample,
Motley Fool,
Hemscott
Net for investment. Most have retirement related sections too. Fund supermarkets are
also a useful feature take a look at
Fidelity's
supermarket and also
Egg.
Riskmetrics - Creating and managing an
investment portfolio in retirement is now a great deal easier, with many new internet
services available. A development from riskmetrics enables you to assess the risk level in
your portfolio for free. This has to be extremely worthwhile for anyone, but especially in
retirement to help achieve the risk levels you really want.
Yours4money – independent financial advisers
offering unbiased information and advice over the phone or online, for all your
financial needs including retirement & inheritance tax planning,
annuities, savings, investments and life cover.
Coverquote
Coverquote is the internet
arm of Holland Insurance Brokers, a firm established for over 20 years. They offer
Policies particularly geared to the over 50s (follow their over 50s club link) as well as
a range of other insurance which may be of interest e.g. property letting and small
business insurance.
ProShare Advice on setting up investment
clubs as well as responsible advice on share based investing.
Association of Unit Trusts and Investment
Funds. Advice for first time investors and resources for the more experienced.
OPAS
The Pensions Advice Service can offer advice
for those approaching pensionable age or already receiving a pension. If you are having
problems you can find out how OPAS can help you, and get in contact with them.
Books
Click on the book you want from the selection below to go straight to Amazon, or follow
the link to the Amazon Business and Finance Index.
Creating
Retirement Income
The
Pensions Handbook:2003
Amazon
- Business and Finance Index
 
Visit our
Pre-retirement Courses
section here on laterlife or our
dedicated Retirement Courses site
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