Local Life - St Helens - Nov/Dec 2021

58
Can I Afford to Retire?
This is a question that can keep people up at night as
they think about whether they have enough assets and
income to be able to retire, live life to the full and tick off
items on their ‘bucket list’.
You’ve worked hard and saved carefully over the last few
decades for your dream retirement. It is however, only
half the battle. Now, your challenge is to make sure that
you don’t run out of money.
Many factors contribute to a successful retirement;
figuring what you’re going to do with your time, keeping
physically and mentally active, and managing your
financial resources in a way that helps you achieve what
matters to you.
Retirement usually happens when you are in your peak
earning years. After years of working hard, planning for
retirement and perhaps bringing up a family you are
suddenly faced with the decision of whether you can
retire and turning off one income ‘tap’ from your earnings
and replacing it with another ‘tap’ from pensions and
investments. It can be a daunting decision and in addition
to this you need to consider that it is always best to ‘retire
healthy’ and enjoy your golden years.
Callisto specialises in the ‘at retirement’ market. We work
best with people that are approaching or in retirement
and we are well equipped to show them whether they
can afford to retire.
Whilst most advisers will use their experience and perhaps
a spreadsheet to show a client’s position, Callisto uses a
state-of-the-art sustainable income planning software
system to illustrate to our clients whether they can retire
comfortably.
• We gather information about a client’s various personal
pensions, savings and investments, along with any
loans such as mortgages.
• We input details about any guaranteed future income
streams like final salary pensions and request their
state pension forecast.
• We ask clients to gauge the level of expenditure they
would like in the various stages of retirement and ask
them to factor in other special events that will need
capital such as dream holidays, children’s weddings
and perhaps a treat like a motor home, a classic car or
an expensive watch.
• We test for our clients’ ability, willingness and need to
take risk and recommend a suitable portfolio.
We input all the above information into the planning
software, and it gives us an indication whether our clients’
plans need work, are on track, or if they need to consider
spending more or gifting some money away.
And if the plan does need work, at least we can plan
ahead. We can guide them to work a little longer and have
more cash flow, invest more into pensions or to take more
risk. It is one of the fun parts of our job to encourage our
clients to spend more or to give some money away so that
they can see others enjoying it and/or avoid inheritance
tax. This sustainable income planning software system is
ideal to help clients make an informed choice.
We are happy to look at your current portfolio and see if
it’s on track to allow you to have a successful retirement.
If it is we will happily tell you, if not, we can suggest some
alternatives, or perhaps consolidate your plans under
one roof, to reduce paperwork and ensure a common
investment policy across all your investments.
Our initial meeting is always
complimentary and without any
obligation whatsoever – call us today!
Andrew Platt
CFP TM Chartered MCSI
A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until age 55 (57 from April 2028). The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up,
which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. Your pension income could also be affected by the interest rates at the time you take your benefits.
The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances, tax legislation and regulation which are subject to change in the future. You should seek
advice to understand your options at retirement.