In my first years in Financial Services, which were also my first years of full time employment, I made the choice to pay little regard to State Pension provision.
When it was possible to ‘contract out’ of the second tier of the state pension I did, despite the commonly held belief it was not in my financial interest. With the removal of contracting out, National Insurance has become just another tax but I still save a significant proportion of my salary into private pensions.
So today’s increase to State Pension age, that the Chancellor will announce in his autumn statement comes as no surprise to me. I may be entitled to a State Pension at 68, but I’m not relying on it.
View the State Pension as a potential windfall, but for many people it should not form a meaningful part of their retirement plans. Be under no illusions – you control the success of failure of your long-term goals and objectives. A private pension can be drawn as young as 55, and other investments could be used for those who wish to retire younger. It will take a significant pot to provide for a lifetime income – maybe 20x as much in your 70s, 30x in your 60s and 40x or more if younger!
A financial planner with a good understanding of your lifetime objectives can help, and the sooner you stop relying on the government to dictate your future the sooner you can expect to gain the maximum level of awareness, and of course control. This firm would be happy to help.
