You may be a doctor a dentist who has reached a certain age or stage in your career and your thoughts are turning to retirement. If so, you may find this article interesting.
This article does not constitute advice. Professional advice should be taken prior to acting on any part of it.
The word ‘retirement’ can bring mixed emotions for some. Some fully embrace it. Whilst, others approach it more cautiously.
Retirement gives you the time to do things you have not had time for in the past, like spending time with your children or grandchildren, travelling, exploring the local area, decorating your home or learning a new skill.
These are all positive, but there can also be a negative side to retirement and that is loneliness. If you have spent the majority of your life working in a busy environment, you may find retirement lonely.
To ensure you get the most out of retirement, you need to plan for it carefully.
Things to consider include:
- are you going to stay in the same location?
- do you want to travel?
- are you are going to stay in the same property, downsize or even upsize?
- what are you going to do with your spare time?
- are your finances in order? And
- how you are going to finance your retirement?
You may decide that working full-time is not for you anymore and give retirement a go. However, if being a full-time retiree is not for you, you could consider volunteering, working part time or even starting up your own business.
According to figures by the ONS, at the end of 2015, there were 4.6 million self-employed people and 43% of those were aged over 50 years. This has been referred to as the rise of the ‘greypreneur’.
Financial planning for retirement
As well as planning on what you are going to do during retirement, you need to plan financially for it. This includes looking at:
When you can claim your state pension
When you can claim your state pension depends on your gender and date of birth. If you are not sure you can check it on the .Gov website.
When you claim your workplace or personal pension
The earliest you can claim a workplace or personal tends to be 55. However, you should check this with your employer or pension provider.
Making a will
It is not enjoyable thinking about death, but making a will is something that you must think about. It is the only way to ensure your possessions and savings are given to the people you love and care about. If you don’t make a will your estate could be given to people that you don’t want it going to.
Carrying out a financial audit
A financial audit involves looking at how much money you will have coming in and how much will go out as expenses such as mortgage payments and bills. A financial audit can also be used to highlight any benefits you may be entitled to and ways in which you can save money.
Investments to top-up your pension
Once you retire the steady pay-check that you are used to receiving will stop. So, you need to ensure you will have enough money to live on throughout your retirement. The best way to do this is to start investing early so by the time you do retire you will have built up a healthy retirement investment sum.
Investments can be a tricky area, so it is imperative that you seek expert advice. Our team has over 25 years’ experience handling the financial needs of doctors and dentists.
Discuss your retirement with a specialist
Dental & Medical Financial Services have been helping doctors and dentists with retirement planning for over 25 years.
Tel: 01403 780 770