How To Beat Stress When It Comes To Your Retirement

Retirement is supposed to be the time of life where you get to relax worry-free as the payoff for years of toil

10:50 27 February 2013

For many retirees, they find the opposite to be true. It is common for retirees to run out money long before they expected due to cost of living increases, unexpected medical bills, or other surprise expenses.  Trying to figure out what the best options are for you and your family are stressful, especially when the purchase of an annuity is permanent and unchangeable. 

Here are a few things to do so you can get the most accurate retirement planning information without all the stress: 

 

1.Make sure to request your state pension, and see if you can lump all of your pensions together into one pension pot just to make your future a little easier. Many people lose out on money simply because they didn’t claim it.

 

2.Visit an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) who is able to discuss the available options and the differences between annuities, drawdown, and alternatives.

 

3.Have your IFA submit an application for annuities to multiple companies. This should be done automatically so you can get competitive rates. £30 difference per pay-out may not seem monumental, but in the future it could be the difference between keeping your style of living and being forced into sacrifices. 

 

4.Set retirement planning objectives and try to stick to them. 

 

5.Check your retirement plans at ten years before retirement, five years, and then again a year before retirement. If plans change, or you feel you have to retire early, make adjustments to the frequency of your plan check-ups accordingly. 

 

6.Check your strategy with a variety of retirement planning calculators to get an overall picture. 

 

7.Don’t forget inflation.  The cost of living won’t remain the same, so ensure that you are compensating adequately.