If you are in your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s or 50’s and haven’t started your pension plan then take some time to look at how much you need to put aside and just do it. If you have already started saving in to a pension, well done. That’s a decision that you won’t regret. If you haven’t started then why not start today?
Pension planning is something that many Irish people put on the long finger. According to research conducted by Irish Life the average age to start a pension is age 37 (Source Irish Life Corporate Business ‘Smarter Company Pensions’ Report 2018). When you are in your 20’s and even in to your 30’s the concept of retirement seems a long way off. The years can pass by very quickly though and its only as we get older and we start to put plans in place for the future that we see retirement planning as a crucial part of our planning for the future.
Waiting until late in your career doesn’t mean that funding for retirement is impossible but the later you leave it, the harder it becomes to accumulate the fund that you will need to sustain your lifestyle in retirement. If you start a pension plan at the start of your career you have the benefit of time and fund growth over time working in your favour helping to build your retirement fund to a substantial sum. The later your leave it, then the higher the percentage of your monthly income will be required.
When you are considering your retirement plan, don’t forget to consider how long you will need your retirement fund to support the standard of living you aspire to in retirement. The life expectancy of someone retiring at age 65 is 18.6 years for a man and 21.1 years for a woman (Source OECD Health at a Glance Report 2017). You will need a retirement fund that will sustain the standard of living that you aspire to in retirement. The longer you have to build up that fund the better.
If you are considering your Pension & Retirement needs and would like to review your options, get in contact with Con Friel & Company on 074 9121301, by email confriel@eircom.net or by contact form.
