UK Investing Habits: Investing to Retire

Investing to Retire

Picture this – a lazy morning, the sun is shining across a beautiful green lawn as you browse the morning papers and sip fragrant freshly ground coffee (or tea if you prefer!). I know what you’re thinking, “What a perfect Sunday” but it’s not Sunday – it’s Monday morning, the first Monday morning of your retirement, it’s the first day of financial freedom.  

Only it’s not – at least not for the vast majority of us – in fact, the vision of a decent, let alone comfortable retirement is a far cry from the reality of today. Government plans see us retiring with a measly state pension at 65 and 66 years old with new changes planned for 2026 to increase this further to 67 years old. For many of us, the prospect of 20, 30 even 40 more working years contributing regularly to our own pension pots to be left with a current income of £125 per week is enough to make you think seriously about what your own future financial prospects might be.

In July 2018 SevenCapital surveyed 1200 people across the UK to understand just how far you’re planning for your future – incredibly a whopping 41.6% of you have absolutely no investments – with 45-55-year-olds topping the charts, over 50% currently with zero investments.    

Time to think about the future

Many of you reading this will have already maximised your ISA allowance and will be making the maximum contributions to your Private or Workplace pensions. According to our survey, ISA’s are the number one investment choice with 18.8% of Women and 23.7% of Men already using this must have an investment vehicle. Clearly, some of us are already thinking about and planning for the future but will it be enough, soon enough and should you be investing to retire?

Long gone are the days of final salary pensions, tough as it may sound our future is in our hands and creating a portfolio to fund your retirement plans, for now or for later, is no longer an option – it’s a must.