Retiring With A Decent Income
These days, it's hard to listen to the financial or economic
news for long without hearing something about pensions. These
news stories usually give us some bad news about the pensions
shortfalls in the gaping holes in pension funds. The chancellor
Gordon Brown has recently gone on record suggesting that he is
in favour of increasing the working age, and the debates about
whether to link state pensions to earnings or inflation rages
on. The bottom line is that people are spending too much, and
saving too little for the future. It can be seen in all aspects
of life, from consumer debt levels to corporate pension
provisions to government statements about the future funding of
pensions.
Save now
If you want a prosperous retirement, it looks like to only way
to guarantee it, is to save the money yourself and provide for
your own pension. The amount you receive during retirement is
all down to you and the basic principle is that the more you
save now, and the sooner you start saving in life, the better
off you will be in old age. No one wants to spend their whole
life working hard, just to end up struggling in their old age
with an inadequate pension. This is the time that many people
look forward to as a long awaited break and a welcome reward. It
can be a great opportunity to do some of the things you never
had the chance to when you were younger and busier, like travel,
take up new hobbies and spend time with friends and family. But
you must have the money put away in advance.
Secure your future
The earlier you start saving the better. It's been said before
but it is the single most important tip in all pensions advice.
Because of compound interest and rates of cumulative saving and
investment growth, money saved when you are in your twenties
will be worth an average of four times as much as money saved in
your forties. Or put another way, saving