should I seek advice now

charlie11

I would like to know if I should seek advice now to retire in 5 years time. I am 55 in a company final salary scheme, I have just been in 10 year, by the time I am planning to retire -, I will have 15 years in, I was also allowed to buy avc 1s which is when you buy back years, this will give me an extra 3 years, which will take it up to 18 years. I also pay in to AVC 2S . I have another deffered pension which I have from another company (7years) my company have stopped transfers in, so that is not an option. I have also £49,000 in a private pension. I have about £40,000 in Isa, shares and bonds.
So should I se an advisor now to put things in place for when I retire, or do I leave everything as it is and wait till I am 59.
Sorry it is long winded but I wanted to make sure all the facts are stated.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Linton

charlie11 wrote: »

I would like to know if I should seek advice now to retire in 5 years time. I am 55 in a company final salary scheme, I have just been in 10 year, by the time I am planning to retire -, I will have 15 years in, I was also allowed to buy avc 1s which is when you buy back years, this will give me an extra 3 years, which will take it up to 18 years. I also pay in to AVC 2S . I have another deffered pension which I have from another company (7years) my company have stopped transfers in, so that is not an option. I have also £49,000 in a private pension. I have about £40,000 in Isa, shares and bonds.
So should I se an advisor now to put things in place for when I retire, or do I leave everything as it is and wait till I am 59.
Sorry it is long winded but I wanted to make sure all the facts are stated.
Any advice would be appreciated.

I wouldnt see an advisor yet - what would you want him to do now?

What I would do in your position is to start doing some modelling with a spreadsheet. Assume an inflation rate (eg 3%) and an investment rate of return (say 4-5%). You can get typical annuity rates from the net. Find out, if you dont already know, what your income need will be and what your state pension will be, and then see if things work out. This will help your understanding of what the risks (if any) are. With that sort of information you can start making real plans.

shaunrc

Hi Charlie

My apologies for disagreeing with the previous poster but I feel that you should take advice and there are several areas to consider.
1. What you want to do when you retire and how much it will cost.
2. How much you can afford to put towards it in the next 5 years.
3. What you are likely to receive, this would involve looking at the strength of your final salary schemes for example.
4. A very important thing to consider as you approach retirement is your investment strategy as the value of your pensions and investments is going to be at its maximum so it is important to get this right.
5. Other issues can come in such as inheritance planning etc. and pensions do help with this.
6. If you are married or in a relationship your partners pension/savings position.

So I would try and find a good local IFA who can help you out as in a way as I have explained above you are approaching the riskiest time in pension planning and want to do the best you can.