It is important that you consider your retirement early in life so you have plenty of time for the planning and saving, allowing you to retire and have money with which you can live on.

However old you are, it is important that you are aware of the current age you will be before you can officially retire and entitled to claim a state pension. It is no longer possible to assume when you retire you will have enough money from your state pension to support yourself through the remainder of your life, especially considering most people will live longer and this could mean 20 or even 30 years you will need to find money with which you can live.

Retirement planning calculators

It is possible to log into the government website and work out the date you can retire and receive the state benefit, but you will need to consider if this is enough to live on. Retirement is becoming a personal choice and not something forced upon you, when you reach a set age.

It is possible to continue working, you might want to reduce your hours or even change your career path into something less demanding, the choice will be yours.

It is just as important that you are aware of the money you will need to live; it is very unlikely that you will still have a mortgage; however, if you do, ensure you have enough income for this expense; losing your home is not an option you will want to face.

There will be a reduction in the amount of money that you will need when you move into retirement, in relation to no longer needing to get to work and the expense that this can have on your budget. However, there will be new expenses that you will need to take into consideration in a retirement budget, including being home all day and this can increase the heating you need on and the different activities that you do to fill your day.

When you are out at work, you might long for the days when you can have the perfectly clean home and the time in the day to do all these jobs. However, you can quickly become bored and lonely, especially if you have participated in a full and active working life. Finding hobbies that can fill your day can cost money, an added expense that you need to factor into to your retirement budget.

Planning for your retirement is something that you must do; it is not easy to think that far ahead for many people, when you are young the thought of retirement is in the distance. Nevertheless, by putting some money away as soon as you start work you will have a good source of income when you do want to retire.

Therefore, it is vital that you consider your retirement as soon as possible and to start making provisions for the future.