Call us on: 01353 662 442 or email info@camouse.co.uk
Posted on: 22nd Apr 2024 by: CamOuse Financial Management Limited
As you move through your working life, it’s easy to get a rosy picture of retirement and dream of the day when you finally step away from the office.
Well, there’s no simple answer to this question, as there are so many factors that are unique to you personally.
However, there are several other questions you can ask yourself beforehand as you decide whether or not to make the leap into retirement…
Ultimately, your ability to enjoy a happy, fulfilling and secure retirement and the lifestyle you desire will be underpinned by your financial situation.
So take a holistic look at your finances so you can work out how much income you’re likely to receive in retirement. This includes your:
Private pensions
Investment income
State and workplace pensions
Cash savings
Social security benefits
Other assets, such as property
It’s also really important to look at your existing debts, as this will eat into your income unless you pay them off as quickly as possible.
There’s no one-size-fits-all model of retirement. Some may dream of a quiet life, staying at home and pottering around the garden.
Others, meanwhile, might see it as their opportunity to be more adventurous, travel the world, go to festivals and indulge in their hobbies and passions.
Or perhaps you’re someone who wants to spend time looking after your grandchildren and making the most of precious family time.
By asking yourself what you want from retirement, you can then work out what your chosen lifestyle is likely to cost you, and when you’ll be in a financial position to fulfil this goal.
Retiring is one of the biggest life decisions you’ll ever make. So it’s important to consider the practical and emotional impact of hanging up your professional hat.
You should ask yourself probing questions such as:
Do you have hobbies and interests to keep you physically and mentally engaged?
Do you have friends and family around you, so you stay socially connected?
Are you disciplined enough to structure your days without work?
Is your job a key facet of your identity, and if so, what will you be without it?
Of course, you might have been counting the days to retirement for many years and have no qualms whatsoever about stopping work.
But if you’re someone who thrives in the workplace and has struggled to achieve a good work-life balance in the past, adjusting to retirement can be difficult.
Retirement should be a time when you have the freedom to enjoy days out, holidays, family time and activities, so you don’t want to be held back by health issues.
You should therefore do all you can to increase the chances of enjoying good health in later life, such as maintaining an active lifestyle, managing existing conditions and not neglecting your mental and emotional wellbeing.
Investing in your health in the present is an investment in your future, and could put you in a position where you’re able to truly enjoy your retirement years.
Speak to your partner or spouse
If you’re unsure about when to retire, talk about it with your other half. Openly discussing your hopes and expectations ensures you’re both on the same page and working towards the same goals.
Seek financial advice
Getting to grips with every aspect of your finances and working out your likely income in retirement can be complex and overwhelming in equal measure.
However, a specialist financial adviser can take away this burden, examining your finances in the round to create a personalised retirement plan.
They’ll look at everything from your various sources of income to your existing debts, and guide you on what tax strategies can help you maximise your retirement income.
A financial adviser can also help you adjust your plan as your circumstances change over time, so you can be confident that you’re still on track to achieve your financial and lifestyle goals.
Retirement is something many of us dream of, so carefully considering your finances, health and lifestyle ambitions straight away can set you up nicely for the future you want and deserve.
I thought CamOuse were very helpful and dealt with my enquiries promptly.
D Mowatt
Clive Nickalls
I have been a client of CamOuse's for many years. My advisors have provided assistance with mortgages, financial planning, investments and most importantly my future. The team remain passionate and professional and I would recommend CamOuse without question.
L Isbell
Trevor Honey & Clive Nickalls
The staff are always happy to help.
J Pearce
Lee has always given me excellent advice when choosing a new mortgage. I would highly recommend him.
R O'Dell
Lee Pooley
Everyone is very friendly, approchable, helpful and professional.
G Parr
Trevor Honey
I would like to thank Lee for all his help, he was amazing!
Silk & Schwarz
Lee Pooley
Lee was recommended to us by 2 of his existing clients, colleagues and friends of ours and I'm glad they did so! He made the whole process much simpler then we were expecting.
Burgess & Bedford
Lee Pooley
Lee has helped us on several occassions and we always appreciate and value his time and efforts.
I & A Murphy
Lee Pooley
I really appreciate the prompt, friendly, efficient service.
V Hardy
Clive Nickalls
Very pleased with the service provided and happy to recommend to my customers and friends and family.
M Chadburn
Clive Nickalls
I would like to express my thanks for the excellent service I have received and a special thank you to Hannah for keeping me updated and dealing with my queries in a very efficient and professional manner.
T Long
Matthew Theobald
Thank you (and Eve) so much for all your help and support towards our remortgage. We really appreciated your expertise.
Cant & Robbins
Lee Pooley
I would just like to thank you all on behalf of myself and Jordan. You, Eve and Max have been faultless and we couldn’t be more appreciative for all your help!
C Baldwin
Lee Pooley
Lee has provided me with mortgages and appropriate insurance for both my home and lease properties. He is professional and works to get policies in place in an extremely quick time frame. I would certainly recommend Lee and CamOuse to anyone and I personally will continue to use their service.
G Habbin
Lee Pooley
I have been a client of CamOuse Financial Management Ltd for many years and have always found their services to be of the highest quality.
N Parker
Jo Kurz
Amazing company, very friendly, professional, and always on hand to give sound advice. My family has been utilising their expertise for many years and have never been let down.
S Bradley
Jo Kurz
Sound financial advice and planning. Responsive and friendly service.
B O'Connor
Jo Kurz
The whole team at CamOuse are friendly, professional and always look after your best interests. Thanks for your help!
G Hall
Lee Pooley
We've only been with CamOuse just over a year but would highly recommend them. We deal with Matthew who is an excellent adviser, always very responsive to questions and goes the extra mile to help.
P Carter
Matthew Theobald
I was so pleased and relieved to find this company. Particularly pleasing is their communication - it's jargon-free, concise and clear. We've been very happy with advice given thus far, and also their responsiveness whenever we've had any queries.
A Cant
Jo Kurz
We used Lee at Camouse to arrange our mortgage and can highly recommend him to provide an honest and professional service in this area. We will certainly return to Lee for remortgage advice in the future.
A Attewell
Lee Pooley
Would like to extend our thanks to you and your team for a fantastic customer service as always.
E & R Mendoza
Lee Pooley
We paid a small fee to Camouse for whole of market mortgage broker services. As first time buyers, Lee and Eve were able to guide us through the process, find us a deal and sort out the applications in a really helpful friendly and efficient way. We were very satisfied and would recommend CamOuse to others for this service.
L Humphrey
Lee Pooley
I was extremely pleased with the quality of the service I received when arranging a mortgage as part of a house sale and purchase through CamOuse. Lee and Eve were very easy to contact and always quick to respond. I would definitely recommend their mortgage arrangement services.
G Dewdney
Lee Pooley
Jo has been extremely helpful and very patient and I will be recommending her highly to other family and friends of mine. I do sincerely appreciate the way Jo handled my issues and also the excellent and very professional way she conducted business. She is an absolute asset to CamOuse.
C Tate
Jo Kurz
CamOuse have been our go-to financial advisers since 2008 and have assisted with numerous mortgages, remortgages, insurances, and general financial advice. Lee Pooley and Eve Nowakowska have been invaluable during this time. We've built up an excellent relationship with both and trust them completely to do what's in our best interests. Both are an absolute pleasure to work with and I cannot recommend them, and by extension CamOuse, enough!
I Murphy
Lee Pooley
We used the services of CamOuse to help in buying our first home and setting up our mortgage and we were extremely happy with all the advice and help we got. We spoke to Lee mostly, who was really great! Very insightful, very friendly and helpful, very patient and all-round great service. Would happily seek their help again. Many thanks Lee!
C Bolas
Lee Pooley
We have been taking mortgage advice from CamOuse for over 20 years and are always impressed by their friendliness and professionalism.
N Amery
Lee Pooley
Thank you to Matthew and Julie for making a huge difference in my life when I thought I was so stuck and felt there was never going to be a way to move forward.
L Smith
Matthew Theobald
View our Privacy Notice.
Camouse Financial Management Limited is an Appointed Representative of Quilter Financial Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
None of the information contained in this website should be considered as personal recommendation and is for information only. Should you wish to make a financial transaction we recommend that you take personal financial advice after a thorough review of your personal and financial circumstances.
The information contained within the website is subject to the UK regulatory regime and is therefore primarily targets at customers in the UK.
Registered address: Unit 111, Lancaster Way Business Park, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB6 3NX
Registered in England and Wales. Registered No: 05662116.
Pension arrangements must be available for all employees. There are three categories of employee:
Aged between 22 and State Pension Age (SPA) with qualifying earnings over the Auto Enrolment earnings trigger
Qualifying Earnings lower threshold |
£5,772 |
Qualifying Earnings upper threshold |
£41,865 |
Automatic Enrolment earnings trigger |
£10,000 |
8% of Qualifying Earnings of which |
3% is employer's (starting at 1%) |
9% of Basic Salary of which |
4% is employer's (starting at 2%) |
8% of Basic Salary of which |
3% is employer's (starting at 1%) |
(Where basic salary is at least 85% of total earnings) |
|
7% of gross earnings of which |
3% is employer's (starting at 1%) |
Essentially the frequency that the jobholder is paid e.g. monthly, weekly etc. but with reference to the tax month, week etc. therefore it may not be the same as the payroll period.
It is the employer who is responsible to calculate, deduct and pay all contributions to the AE scheme. NOTE – the first and last contributions are likely to be for less than a full pay reference period and should be adjusted accordingly.
It can be seen that it is very important that the payroll system synchronises with the AE scheme otherwise the employer will not be carrying out all requirements and then penalties will be incurred.
Based on the employer’s payroll size as at 1 April 2012 and can be found at www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/employers using your PAYE reference. The Qualifying Workplace Pension Scheme must be registered with The Pensions Regulator within 4 months of the staging date.
Auto-Enrolment can be postponed for up to 3 months:
All eligible employees must be auto-enrolled, but can, with the correct notification, opt-out within one month of joining the scheme and be treated as never having joined. They can opt back in and will automatically be auto-enrolled every 3 years in any case!
There is a wide range of information that must be provided to all employees at certain times, such as:
Contributions can be paid by effectively reducing salary, which saves on NI contributions, but employee must choose to do this – they cannot be forced, so a contractual variation will need to be implemented.
All eligible employees will be automatically invested into a default investment fund, which is a balanced risk fund that is “life styled” to account for the employees approach to retirement. They also have the option to invest in a wide range of funds of their choosing.
Looks like there is an error with your comment. Please double check it and try again.
Your comment has been submitted for approval, please check back later.