It’s never too early to start planning for retirement. We suggest that you think about the standard of living you might want in retirement, to make sure that your pension or other income will be enough to provide you with the things you need and want.
You can find out what age you can retire from on our 'When can I retire page?' page.
What are the retirement living standards?
The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has created some retirement living standards to help. These show you what life in retirement might look like at three different levels, and what a range of common goods and services would cost for each level.
Roughly speaking, a single person will need about:
- £12,800 a year to achieve the minimum living standard
- £23,300 a year for moderate
- £37,300 a year for comfortable.
For couples, it's:
- £19,900 a year to achieve the minimum living standard
- £34,000 a year for moderate
- £54,500 a year for comfortable.
What should I think about when approaching retirement?
Choosing the right time to retire is entirely a personal choice and will normally depend on the pension income you have built and the lifestyle you want to achieve. Your Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) benefits will form some of your pension income. You can use the calculator on your My Pension account to find out an estimate of what you might receive.
It’s also worth finding out the value of your State Pension and the income this is likely to provide. You can do this on the gov.uk website.
For many people, deciding when to retire and what to do next can be a daunting prospect and so it is worthwhile spending some time thinking about this and talking it over with your employer, family and friends.
GMPF holds pre-retirement events to help. Please speak to your employer in the first instance as they may have sessions planned, or visit our Events section to check if we are visiting a region close to you or holding an online event.
When the time comes, it’s best to give everyone as much notice as possible, especially if you want to start receiving your pension from the date you retire.
Useful tools and websites
There are lots of financial planning tools available to help you. There are also a number of people and organisations that will help you think about lifestyle and social opportunities.
- GOV.UK - check your state pension - The Government website where you can get a forecast for your State Pension.
- MoneyHelper - Pension calculator - This calculator helps those approaching retirement by looking at required income, expected income and any shortfall.
- Unbiased.co.uk - If you’re looking for some advice on retirement planning then this website gives a list of registered financial advisers.