Are YOU on track for a rich retirement?
WHen it comes to saving for old age, too many of us bury our heads in the sand.
There always seems to be something more pressing . . . until it’s too late. But there’s no need to let your golden years turn into a damp squib. With our guide, your pension will be back on track in no time.
PUT YOURSELF IN THE PICTURE
Dig out statements for your pension plans or call your provider to see what you have in your pot.
you will need to look at the most recent valuation of what the fund is worth should you cash it in.
since most plans are stock market-linked, the amount could change. But this will give you the best indication.
What you need depends on your expectations. research by Which? found retired couples need £18,000 a year on average to cover household essentials. This rose to £26,000 when allowing for extras such as holidays and leisure activities.
SPRUCE UP YOUR INVESTMENTS
IT’s not enough to make your investments and hope they pay off. Ditch funds bogged down by long periods of poor performance and high charges.
it is worth checking why the fund is underperforming. Poor returns could be a result of a downturn in the market, rather than poor management.
TRACE YOUR STRAY POTS
Losing track of a pension is extremely common. At the last count, there was £3 billion of unclaimed savings. Pension provider Aegon says more than 6.6 million people may have lost one or all of their pension pots.
For workplace schemes, the Pension Tracing service can search pension scheme administrators to reunite you with your money.
Write to Pension Tracing service, The Pension service 9, Mail Handling site A, Wolverhampton, WV98 1LU or call 0345 6002 537.
or use the online service at gov. uk/ find- pensioncontact-details.
For personal pensions, call The Pensions Advisory service on 0300 123 1047.
if all your arrangements are in hand, don’t lose track in the future. notify pension providers when you move home.
EVERYTHING UNDER ONE ROOF
once you have rounded up your pensions, you may want to combine them into one plan.
it cuts down on paperwork and might also save you money. Many older-style pensions have complex or expensive charges that eat into returns.
Moving to a more modern and cheaper scheme means you can pocket more of the gains.
However, some older schemes have benefits such as guaranteed payout rates. others charge if you switch before retirement. investigate first and take independent advice if unsure.
BOOST YOUR SAVINGS
IF YOU can afford to pay in more, do. often, when you increase contributions to a workplace scheme your boss will match what you pay in.
otherwise, plough money into a private pension, for example a self-invested personal pension (sipp). shop around to find one that suits you — try comparetheplatform.com.
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
IF YOU’RE in your 50s and worried that you’ve missed the boat, don’t despair. it’s harder to grow a huge fund, but the tax breaks are worth having. When you pay into a pension you get a refund of the income tax that you’d owe. you pay tax when you take the money out.
Typically, in retirement you drop into a lower tax band — so you’ll save money. And you can take 25 pc of the pot as tax-free cash in retirement.
ROLL WITH THE UPS AND DOWNS
THIS year’s stock market turbulence had investors worried about a downturn. But pensions savers should keep their cool. it’s important to monitor your portfolio, but the point of buying funds is to let professionals worry about the market. remember, you’re investing for the long term. even if you’ve only a few years until you start drawing your pension, you are likely to need it for another 20 in retirement. so it’s likely to stay invested for many years yet. changing your portfolio too often is unwise because you incur extra charges and can do more harm than good.
ASK A PRO TO HELP
THE way you divide up your retirement savings between shares, cash, bonds and property is crucial. if you need help with this, or any aspect of retirement planning, use an adviser. Find local independent advisers at unbiased.co.uk, or call 0800 023 6868. you can also visit vouchedfor.co.uk, which includes reviews for advisers. And don’t forget to check what you will get from your state pension. To receive a statement, call 0345 3000 168, go to gov.uk/ state- pension- statement, or write to The Pension service 9, Mail Handling site A, Wolverhampton, WV98 1LU.
sorted out first before we go for the candles and the chocolates, and long before we even think about female Viagra.’
WHEN MAKING LOVE IS A PAIN
Dyspareunia, or painful sex, is a common cause of low sex drive in women. around 30 per cent of women experience this according to an article in the Journal of sexual Medicine in 2015. Large numbers of women do not tell their partner when sex hurts. They might want to have sex, but go off it as it is so painful for them.
‘it’s a common and distressing complaint and it has been a neglected female health problem and can affect young women, women after having children and women who are already through the menopause,’ says Mike Bowen, a consultant gynaecologist based in London and Oxford. ‘it can be felt as deep pain within the pelvis or superficial pain in the vulva during intercourse.’
it is associated with issues such as vaginal dryness and anxiety about sex as well as a range of physical problems, from painful skin conditions to urinary tract infections and endometriosis. Women who have perineal scars after childbirth are also more likely to find sex painful until the scar tissue has stretched and softened, which can take years.
‘Fortunately, there are many ways to treat dyspareunia, by treating the underlying causes, whether they be physical, emotional or a combination of both,’ says Mr Bowen.
any form of incontinence can put women off sex: stress incontinence, the most common form that leads to small leaks of urine when someone coughs, sneezes or laughs, affects around one in three women in the UK.
‘Women may feel dirty and unclean and they may not want to have sex at all,’ says Dr Hood.
stress incontinence occurs because weakness around the pelvic floor (the band of muscles that stretch from the pubic bone to the front to the spine) means the neck of the bladder is not well-supported, so urine can leak out when the bladder is put under pressure. This commonly happens after childbirth, as the ligaments that support the pelvic floor become stretched during pregnancy or labour.
pelvic floor exercises can help — although ideally these should be done under the guidance of a specialist physiotherapist, who are in short supply.
apps such as squeezy and gadgets such as innovo, which emits electrical impulses to contract the pelvic floor muscles, can help.
‘ There is a place for these devices but women can also try simple techniques like going to the loo before sex and abstaining from coffee and tea, which are mild diuretics,’ says Dr Hood.
a lesser-known issue is pelvic tension, when muscles in the pelvic floor are knotted and tight, which can make sex virtually impossible. yet it is surprisingly common: up to 15 per cent of women aged between 18 and 50 are affected, according to a study published in the March 1996 issue of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
it can be caused by stress and anxiety, slouched posture, chronic constipation and even over-exercise. it is a recognised medical condition which can be treated by internal massage, widely available on the NHS.
amanda savage, a specialist pelvic floor physiotherapist at the private south Cambridge physiotherapy clinic in Hauxton, Cambridge, treats many women who suffer from pelvic tension.
‘We often find that women have such overly tense muscles in their pelvic region, their muscles are unable to let go and relax. This can cause long-term pain.’
DON’T BLAME THE MENOPAUSE
IT’s generally assumed that desire will naturally drop with age, especially following the menopause, but there is no evidence that this should happen to women.
indeed when Tim spector, professor of epidemiology at King’s College, London, looked at the effect of the menopause on women’s libido he found that sexual dysfunction problems didn’t increase but stayed constant, affecting around 22 per cent of women. some women actually saw improvements in sexual function after the menopause.
The results of the four-year study, published in the Journal of sexual Medicine in 2015, were ‘a little surprising’, professor spector admits. ‘They suggest that menopause has been exaggerated as an excuse for everything.
‘By modifying your life and attitudes towards desire, you can change things sometimes surprisingly for the better, although you are older,’ he says.
any reduced libido is usually associated with hot flushes or vaginal dryness (which can make sex painful). ‘as oestrogen levels drop, there can be problems like vaginal dryness,’ says Kathy abernethy, specialist menopause nurse and Chair of the British Menopause society, adding that if these are treated, for example with hormone replacement therapy (HRT), oestrogen creams and lubricants, a woman can find her desire returns.
Dr Hood says that women who maintain active sex lives are more likely to keep thinning and dryness at bay: ‘There’s a maxim, use it or lose it, which definitely applies to women having a great sex life past the menopause. sexual intercourse helps to keep the walls of the vagina thicker and more elastic.’
some doctors believe that a lack of sexual desire in women is linked to low levels of the male sex hormone, testosterone, which in women is produced in small amounts in the ovaries and drives sexual arousal.
Testosterone patches deliver small amounts of a synthetic form of the hormone while testosterone creams can be used by peri and post-menopausal women on an ‘off-label’ basis (i.e. the drug has not been approved for that use).
Dr Martin Galy, a hormone specialist practising in London, says that at least half of his female patients complaining of loss of sex drive have inadequate levels of testosterone. However, this is a controversial area, and Dr Galy admits that the science for what counts as ‘inadequate’ is ‘inexact’.
‘a woman’s testosterone levels could be very low and her libido is fine,’ he explains. ‘it works for some women, but not everyone.’ There are also a range of potential side- effects such as bone softening, hair loss and acne.
TRY TO KEEP LOVE ALIVE
WHATEVER the cause, the impact a lack of desire can have on women should not be underestimated, explains Denise Knowles, a sex and relationship counsellor for relate. ‘a healthy sex life is good for your relationship and how you feel,’ she says.
‘sex stimulates the production of feel-good hormones dopamine and oxytocin, making you feel closer to your partner as well as improving blood flow, which helps keep the circulatory system in good shape and burning calories. There are all sorts of good reasons why you should take steps to foster your desire.’
Dr Hood says people do have to make an effort. she often sees couples where the woman complains she no longer feels spontaneous desire and the man complains his partner won’t initiate sex. ‘But perhaps we put too much emphasis on “spontaneous desire”, which only really happens in new relationships. after two years or so, spontaneity is replaced by a new cycle of desire, which requires him to initiate intimacy to which she can respond sexually.’
There is also very often a difference in libido between a man and woman, suggests Dr Hood. Generally speaking, one person, usually a woman, loses spontaneous desire, she has said previously. ‘They don’t think about sex that much, they don’t initiate it and don’t really feel like having it.
‘But when they do have sex, they often enjoy it — they have what’s known as reactive sex drive. also, the person with the reactive sex drive needs to be open to having sex, not just short-circuit the whole idea.’