Introduction
Many clients envisage a retirement filled with enjoying the things they did not have time to do while they were working.
Whether this is taking trips out with their grandchildren, spending more time and money on maintaining their property, or taking a couple of holidays a year, maybe a cruise somewhere with a warmer climate, or a stay in a UK holiday cottage.
But being able to afford this kind of lifestyle in retirement, on top of the usual weekly and monthly outgoings, has become a lot more challenging now that clients are faced with so many funding options in retirement.
Helping clients plan for retirement has become a vital part of an adviser's job, as pension freedoms removed the obligation to simply buy an annuity to see them through their later years.
But the worry is that many people will underestimate just how much they need to save in order to have the retirement lifestyle they want, and to not outlive their pension pot.
Recent research by Close Brothers reports that 46 per cent of UK workers aged 55 and over do not feel prepared for their retirement.
The Close Brothers Financial Wellbeing Index reveals that 31 per cent admit that funding their retirement is one of their top three money worries, rising to 45 per cent among those aged 55 plus, who are approaching their retirement.
This guide will look at what has changed for advisers and their clients since pension freedoms in 2015, as well as how to make the right choices in both accumulation and then the decumulation phase.
Finally, it will consider how to ensure clients do not run out of access to cash in drawdown.
The guide is worth an indicative 60 minutes of CPD.
Contributors to this guide are: Vince Hughes-Smith, head of business development at Prudential; Billy Burrows, retirement director at Better Retirement Group; Heather Owen, financial planner at Quilter Private Client Advisers; Colin Simmons, retirement income expert at Prudential UK; Patrick Connolly, chartered financial planner at Chase De Vere; Steve Pennington, head of wealth planning at Arbuthnot Latham; Ricky Chan, chartered financial planner and director at IFS Wealth; Mihir Kapadia, chief executive of Sun Global Investments; Nathan Harris, a chartered financial planner at Lothbury Group; Sir Steve Webb, director of policy at Royal London; Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon; Close Brothers.
Ellie Duncan is a freelance financial journalist