NEED TO GO BACK TO WORK?
Early retirement dreams can come crashing down if your pension pot won’t pay out. Sue guides you through the options…
There are a myriad of reasons why women choose to stay working in later life. For some, it may be down to life changes and the need to keep busy, say as the result of a recent bereavement or divorce. Or for many, it may be that your pension pot won’t provide enough to live on.
Most pension funds are tied up in the stock market, which took a downward turn during the coronavirus pandemic, so if you were planning on taking a chunk it may mean not much left.
And when it comes to the workplace, the whole culture has changed over recent years. More jobs are adver tised online. Zero hours contracts have replaced long-term job prospects and security in many companies.
According to insurer LV=, we’re now seeing an increase in “staggered” retirement. This means more pensioners working par t-time before giving up work completely, in order to ensure their pensions last for the rest of their lives.
LV=’s research claims that more than one in three pensioners in their 60s, and more than one in 10 over-70s, are now tr ying to avoid touching their pensions, relying on work to pay the bills.
This can all seem like scar y stuff, but before you shelve retirement plans for a return to the rat race, it’s wor th giving yourself a pension health check.
Work out what you’re actually wor th, along with how much money you really need to live on.
You can check the value of your pension pot by contacting your pension provider. If you’ve changed jobs, check if you’ve got small pension pots dotted around from previous jobs. The easy way track these down is at www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details
Check when you can get your state pension at www.gov.uk/state-pension-age along with how much you can expect. Add in any other investments or forms of income you’ll have in retirement.
Then work out how much you need to live on. There’s a handy calculator on the Aviva website where you can plug in your details. aviva.co.uk/retirement/tools/ my-retirement-planner/