How retirement has changed

drawn upon at different times, to provide lump sums or an income.

How do people save for retirement?

For previous generations, retirement planning was a simple matter of making contributions to a workplace pension and keeping up their National Insurance contributions to ensure they were eligible for the State Pension. Once their pensions were big enough, people considered their working and retirement planning phase of life to be over, and they drew on their pensions for income, so they didn’t have to work anymore.

Now that the ‘retirement planning’ phase can last throughout life, as many people choose to keep working for longer, and are more flexible on what their retirement looks like.

Should I put all my savings into a pension?

What has changed about retirement today compared to 30 years ago?

Retirement used to be a single event, in the sense that people simply stopped working at the age of 55, 60 or 65. Typically, they had worked for one employer for the bulk of their career and built up a pension pot.

Now, it’s becoming less common for retirement to be a set date after which people stop working. Today, people tend to ease themselves into retirement – for example going part-time at their main job. There’s also a growing trend for people in their 50s and 60s to start businesses and retrain to work in new industries.

Why is the retirement age rising?

We are living longer and in response to the changes in the way people age, the government has gradually been raising the age at which people become eligible to receive the State Pension.

People born before 5 April 1960, can expect to be eligible for the State Pension when reaching the age of 66. If you were born after this date, there’ll be a phased increase to 67, eventually rising to 68.

How do I fund my retirement?

The days of working for one employer for your whole career are largely over. Instead, people today can expect to have several different employers or a mix of employed and self-employed jobs. That means most people will have more than one pension.

In addition to pensions, people are building their wealth via different assets including property, Stocks & Shares ISAs, and other investments.

The benefit of having a range of assets is that it provides future flexibility as they can be earmarked for different purposes and

Pensions have valuable advantages that make them a great place to start building wealth for retirement. The biggest benefit for many people is pension tax relief, which is a government topup to pension savings based on your Income Tax band. However, pensions can currently be accessed from age 55 (some schemes may be different) and this is due to increase to 57 from 6 April 2028. Depending on your personal situation and goals, it can be useful to save and invest in alternatives - such as ISAs – from which you can withdraw at different times. The right solution for you will depend on your personal circumstances and we can guide you in the options available.

We can help you plan for the retirement you want. Contact us now for advice and support.

The value of an investment with St. James’s Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and may fall as well as rise. You may get back less than the amount invested.

Albion Wealth Management Ltd is an Appointed Representative of an represents only St. James’s Place Wealth Management Plc (which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority) for the purpose of advising soley on the group’s wealth management products and services. More details of which can be found on the group’s website www.sjp.co.uk/ products. The ‘St. James’s Place Partnership’ and the titles ‘Partner’ and ‘Partner Practice’ are marketing terms used to describe St. James’s Place representatives.

SJP Approved 26/6/23