Tips to get yourself ready for a retirement.

There are all sorts of advice on the Internet about how to prepare for retirement. I think it is important to prepare for retirement, but when I retired I did not and so I fumbled my way through the first eight years of retirement and finally started to figure out that for which I should have planned. After 15 years of retirement, I am starting to get the hang of what I want to do. If you are approaching retirement look for and listen to all the advice you can find. As you filter through the advice, find advice that speaks to you and what you need and want to do.  Here are some ideas that I could have used when I first thought about retirement.

What do you want your retirement to look like? – Make a list of things you would ideally like to do.

Locate all pension paperwork from past and present employers, you can also use the Governments pensions tracing systems for details of pans you may be unable to trace.

Work out how much income you would need in retirement in the short term (the first 5 to 10 years) and longer-term (after 10 years).

Ideally at what age would you like to retire if you had the income to support you.

Would you like to have any lump sums to spend on holidays, home renovation or exploring things you want to achieve in retirement.

What does your government pension forecast look like? Each country has its own rules, but you should be able to access your information with effort.

What is the total of your existing pension? What income or lump sums will they provide in retirement?

Start to plan early, what risk profile and funds are your existing pensions in?

Do you have other assets to help towards building a retirement of which you are dreaming?

Make sure you are part of your current employer’s pension scheme.

Retirement planning is like using a satellite navigation system, you enter your destination, and it works our various routes, the shortest, the fastest and takes into consideration any congestion you come across.