ADVERTISING FEATURE
The wellbeing benefits of smart retirement planning W
hen you think about retirement, you possibly have some sort of emotional reaction. It might be fear and anxiety, or perhaps excitement and optimism, depending on your distance from this milestone and how prepared you feel. Taking a positive approach when you plan for retirement can make a huge difference to your wellbeing, both before and after it happens. Prepare for peace of mind A large part of financial wellbeing is about building confidence, according to Tony Clark, Senior Propositions Manager at St. James's Place. “You don’t need to have lots of financial knowledge, you just need to know you’re doing something and making good decisions. “That in itself creates the sense of confidence that you’re building something.” The increased control we have over retirement these days can be a double-edged sword; it puts pressure on us to make the right choices, with the risk of poor outcomes where professional advice hasn’t been sought. But it also gives us more options, such as having more control over when we retire. One step at a time A lot of people put off long-term saving because they’re unsure about what they can and can’t do, how products work and whether they’re good value. A good positive step is to get into a regular savings habit. “Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen lots of hardship, but also people taking the opportunity
to clear debts, overpay their mortgages, increase their savings and generally build their financial resilience,” notes Tony. Those regular savings may contribute to meeting your short, medium and long-term goals, and the products you use will fit into those different goals. For longerterm objectives such as saving for retirement, pensions are the obvious place to start, not least due to their tax efficiency. If you’ve taken out a workplace pension, it’s likely that your employer is paying into it too, while the tax relief available on pension contributions is a generous government incentive to save as much as you can. You can also build up your ISA investments over that time, while property may also play a part. Heart and head The decisions made around retirement plans can be heavily influenced by how we feel about it, potentially resulting in behavioural biases and poor outcomes. But by speaking to us and getting professional advice you can prevent your emotions
from derailing your retirement plans. “An adviser can help you identify your objectives, see what you’re trying to achieve and put a plan together to get you there. This will give you confidence that you’re doing more to address your own needs.” 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. The levels and bases of taxation, and reliefs from taxation, can change at any time and are generally dependent on individual circumstances.
For more information about wealth management and retirement planning, contact Robert Drake at Anglian Wealth Management on 01603 752500 / 07581 347559, or email robert.drake@sjpp.co.uk
The Partner Practice is an Appointed Representative of and represents only St. James's Place Wealth Management plc (which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority) for the purpose of advising solely on the Group’s wealth management products and services, more details of which are set out 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.
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