Retirement Checklist: What do I need to think about?

Decide when you're going to retire and what you plan to do.

• Are you going to retire completely, or do you plan to keep working in some capacity?
• How are you going to spend your time? Are there hobbies you want to take up or do more of? Do you plan to spend time volunteering?

Get details of all of your pensions.

• Go online to get a benefit statement for each pension you have. Remember there are different types of pension.
• Not sure what pensions you have? Use the Government's Pension Tracing Service, or for more information use the National Pension Tracing Day guide.
• Don’t forget about the State Pension - this can be worth up to £11,500 a year. 

Work out what you'll need in retirement.

• It's really important to understand what your spending will be in retirement.
• Try to think about it in terms of core spending or discretionary spending.
• Core spending is utility bills, food etc. – costs that you can’t go without and will always have.
• Lifestyle/discretionary spending is things like eating out, holidays, entertainment etc. - things that you enjoy but may be able to live without.

Do you have any one-off or ad-hoc spending plans?

• Are you planning to buy a new car? How often will you replace it in the future?
• Any big holiday plans in retirement?
• Do you have any debts to repay?

Ready to start?

• Go to the Pension Potential Lifestyle Explorer and start seeing what your retirement could look like.