Driving towards the next phase of your life

However, most over-45s are not making plans to match their hopes for the future according to new research[1]. The vast majority (86%) of those aged 45 or over are already dreaming about escaping their working life for retirement, but only 8% of the same age group have recently checked the retirement date on their pension plans to make sure it is still in line with their plans. Over half (56%) don’t have a clear idea of when they want to retire, and only one in ten (10%) have worked out how much income they’ll need when they decide to stop working.

The study reveals that it doesn’t get much clearer as you go up the generations. Less than a fifth (17%) of those aged between 55 and 64 have recently checked to see if the retirement date on their pension policy still fits in with their plans.

Some people will have set their retirement date when they were in their 20s or 30s, and a great deal will have changed since then, including their State Pension age and perhaps their career plans. It may seem like