We’re all living and working longer so I’m sure it isn’t going to come as a great surprise to most readers that the government have confirmed their plans to increase the age for accessing private pensions from 55 to 57 with effect from April 2028.

This could mean that if you’re born before 5th April 1973, you’ll get access at age 55 but if you were born just a day later from 6th April 1973, you are now likely to have to wait two more years to access these funds.

They have already taken steps to address this in recent years with increases to the state pension age from 65 to 68 and the move to a flat rate state pension from April 2016.

Unfortunately, and without doubt, ladies born after 6th November 1953 have been impacted the most by seeing their state pension age pushed back by a full 5 years or more and had little time to plan for this.

But what does all this mean?

With us all living longer the government are encouraging us to remain at work and help to ensure pension savings provide for later life.

Although it is likely that most people will be working longer, a change to the pension rules doesn’t have to mean a change to your plans. For example, if you’re 46 years old and working towards an early retirement then it still may be possible to retire at 55 rather than 57 by building up more savings outside of your pension to access earlier.

If you begin planning early and frequently revisit your plan, then adjustments can be made to ensure you keep on track and help stop changes to pension rules or taxation from derailing your plans for retirement.

As well as planning early and keeping up to date with changes to pension rules, here are some helpful tips on planning for retirement

  •  Gather information on your existing savings, investments, private pension and company pension schemes. Are there any missing or old pensions which you might be entitled to from a previous employer?

  •  Work out how much income you might need to ensure you can meet all your monthly outgoings and live the lifestyle you would like in retirement. Will you downsize? How frequently would you like to go on holiday and what does retirement look like for you?

  • Compare your projected pension income with your required level of income. A useful pension calculator can be found by visiting www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/tools/pension-calculator

  • Are you saving enough for retirement and taking full advantage of the valuable tax benefits?

  •  If you aren’t sure of when you might start receiving your state pension then visit www.gov.uk/state-pension-age to check your current state pension age.

  • Are you on track to receive the full state pension? This can be checked by visiting www.gov.uk/check-state-pension. It may be possible to enhance your state pension by topping up your National Insurance record.

At Fort Financial Planning we help clients become financially well organised and then build and implement their plans for the future. Whether your plans are to retire early, build an exit strategy from your business or slowly transition into retirement then we would be more than happy to discuss this with you.

October 2020