Cash advice
Typically, women live longer, earn less and take more career breaks than men, so usually we have less money to put away for retirement. So don’t delay – take control and boost your pension…
1 MAXIMISE YOUR STATE PENSION
The current maximum state pension is £168.60 a week, but how much you’ll get depends on your National Insurance record. You can check if you are on track at gov.uk/ check-national-insurance-record. You may have gaps if you took a career break, didn’t claim benefits or were living abroad. If you’re off track, you may be able to pay voluntary contributions.
2 BOOST YOUR WORKPLACE PENSION
If you earn more than £10,000 and are aged between 22 and state pension age, you are eligible for auto-enrolment into a workplace pension scheme. The minimum contribution is eight per cent of your salary (three per cent of which must come from your employer).
If you’re able to, increase your monthly pension contributions – if you pay more in, your employer may match that (up to a certain amount), so think of it as free money.
3 SELFEMPLOYED?
According to research by Prudential, 43 per cent of self-employed people don’t have a pension. With no employer contributions and a lack of regular income, it’s easy to understand why people put it off. By not saving for your retirement, you could be missing out on tax breaks – if you’re a basic-rate taxpayer, for every £100 you pay into your pension, you will get an extra £25.
4 DELAY YOUR RETIREMENT
Even when you reach retirement age, you can boost your state pension by 5.8 per cent per year if you delay taking it. So, if you were going to get £168.80 a week, by deferring it for a whole year, you’ll get an extra £9.74 a week.
5 DON’T FORGET YOUR MAIN ASSET
It’s not hard to see the financial benefits of downsizing. Make sure you take into account the costs of moving and buying a new home, and use an online calculator (such as zoopla.co.uk/ home-values) to help work out how much you could raise from selling your house, and whether the capital would provide a decent income if invested.