This is doubly a problem due to the fact that you have more to spend money on as you mature! Families, properties and more are all significant expenses that you will find yourself incurring. The difference in how much you need to save each month if you start saving in your 20s compared to your 30s is remarkable and can be the difference between being able to sustain an important element of adult life and not being able to.

With that said, all is far from lost. With a few savvy saving tips under your belt, you can look to cover your retirement funds in an effective and reasonable manner. Here's what we suggest.

Confirm Your NI Contributions

National Insurance is the key to receiving your government pension later in life. We all pay it as part of our regular taxes, but not many know that you have to prove 35 years of contributions or credits to qualify for a pension.

This is important because while the government pension isn't realistically enough to sustain you alone, it's a large portion of regular income that contributes to your own savings to create a sustainable amount of regular income.

If your plan for retirement is to live off your own savings and your government pension, you'll want to be sure that you know how many years left you have until your contributions have reached the 35-year mark; this will determine your retirement date.

Consider ISAs

Individual Savings Accounts offer an important tax break for retirement savings. They're different from the standard saving account you might already have in that up to a specific limit per year you won't pay any tax at all.

For the 2017/2018 tax year, this figure is £20,000. This offers the chance for a huge benefit in savings; those of us in the most common tax band will look to benefit to the tune of 20%. If you're a higher earner, this figure soars up to as much as 40%.

You have options where ISAs are concerned, namely the type (stocks, shares). Money can be moved around from your current tax period or even from previous years to help you save for the future.

Some types of ISA will be more attractive to you based on your income and willingness to invest. Take a look and begin portioning off your savings to put into these funds; you'll be making every Pound go further by doing so.

Calculate Your Requirements

An obvious question many fail to ask themselves is simply how much money they need to save. It's easy to see pensions as a murky, ‘must be done' investment where you seemingly throw money into a pit with the vague notion of using it later in life. This is understandable but can leave you feeling disillusioned and less likely to invest more when more is available.

Ask yourself how much you actually need in order to live when retired. Bills for rent, food and other living costs in addition to mortgages and homeownership are all factors. You can combine this figure with the income expected from your government pension to create a total figure that you can divide by months and years.

Knowing this will motivate you by giving you regular targets to achieve. It'll keep you on track and keep you honest – worth doing indeed.

Short-Term Finance Can Be Yours

With the long-term handled, the weeks and months right in front of you can still be a challenge. Enquire today for additional finance; we can have a response with you in minutes.

This article was posted on: 23/10/2017