When you think about retirement, there are probably a few big questions floating through your mind. The first is often the pragmatic “when do I want to retire?” while the most exciting one is usually “how do I want to spend my time?”
Of course, this often leads onto a third, and sometimes difficult question of “will I have enough to enjoy the retirement I want?”
For most people, giving up work is an exciting prospect, as you finally get to do all the things you wanted to but never found the time. That’s why worries about money are the last thing you need in this important chapter of your life.
With that in mind, read on to find out how working with a financial planner can help to ensure you have enough for the three stages of retirement.
While everyone’s plans are different, their spending patterns in retirement are often similar
Each person you meet will have their own unique goals and expectations for what their life will be like when they stop working. But despite this, you’ll often find that many people’s retirements follow a similar pattern of three different stages:
Stage one: Achieving your goals
In the initial stage of retirement, you’re young, healthy, and excited to start living out your dreams. You finally have the opportunity to enjoy the rewards of all your hard work and you intend to make the most of it.
At this point, you might want to splash out on expensive purchases, such as a new car every few years or long foreign holidays to places you’ve always wanted to visit.
Stage two: Enjoying your freedom
While the first stage of retirement can be very exciting, the second is often the most rewarding. Once you’ve ticked off most of your bucket list, you might want to slow down and take life at a gentler pace.
This stage can be a great opportunity to master your hobbies, or even just spend more time with the people dear to you.
Stage three: Relaxing
Finally, as you start to get older you may want to sit back and enjoy life at a slower pace. You may also need to consider whether you’ll need additional care. After all, no matter how well you look after yourself with fitness and exercise, you might need some help with daily tasks as you get older.
Each stage of retirement has different expenses that you need to be aware of
In each of the three stages of retirement, you’ll have different needs and so it’s important to plan ahead for them.
The first stage is often the most expensive, as you’ll be living your retirement dreams. Long foreign holidays can create unforgettable memories for you and your family, but they can also be very costly!
In the second stage, when you’re enjoying life at a more relaxed pace, you may spend less money on yourself but you’ll probably still have some large expenses.
For example, you may want to give your children or grandchildren a cash gift to help them afford a mortgage deposit for their first home. Alternatively, if you have relatives who are still young you may want to pay for their education fees, to boost the opportunities available to them.
Finally, in the third stage of retirement you may need to have money set aside to pay for professional care. This can potentially be very expensive, depending on what type of support you’ll need.
Of course, if you don’t plan ahead carefully, you may not have enough wealth for all three stages of retirement. For example, if you spend too much at the start, you may have a shortfall when the time comes to pay for your care.
This can be a hugely worrying thought, so if you want to avoid this prospect, seeking professional advice can really benefit you.
Working with a planner can help you to manage your finances in retirement effectively
When you work with a financial planner, we can help you to accurately model your retirement spending using cashflow forecasting.
To start, we’ll consider data about how much wealth you already own, such as the value of your investments, property, and any cash savings you might have. Then we’ll take your your monthly income and expenses into account.
With this information, we can build an accurate forecast of how your finances are likely to change over time to see if you’ll have enough to achieve your retirement goals.
One of the main benefits of this is that if the data shows that you might have a shortfall, you have time to alter your financial plan accordingly. For example, you could raise your risk tolerance when investing, as doing so may help you to achieve stronger returns.
Working with a financial planner can give you much greater peace of mind to know that you have enough wealth to enjoy the retirement you want.
Get in touch
If you want to know more about how working with a planner can benefit you when preparing for retirement, we can help. Either contact your financial planner directly, email us at hello@ascentawealth.com or fill in our online contact form to organise a meeting and we’ll get in touch.
