Want To Retire Early? Many People Are, And So Can You.

Major milestones in your life require planning; there are no more significant milestones than retirement.

Regardless of what you want to do when you stop working, it requires planning.

Speaking to a specialist and taking expert advice is helpful; check out Portafina.

If you are considering early retirement, planning is even more crucial.

Early retirement will give you more time to do more things you want.

However, all this extra time may be useless if you’ve failed to make adequate plans.

Your income is unlikely to cover your lifestyle expenses without a retirement plan.

Try to keep your goals realistic.

Doing so will help you avoid making rash decisions.

Also, sound planning will give you a clear perspective on how early you can retire.

Can you afford early retirement?

When calculating if you can afford early retirement, your starting point should be to decide upon the lifestyle you want when you retire.

This report looked at three retirement lifestyles, ranging from basic to luxury.

It concluded that a couple needed £26,000 per year for a comfortable retirement lifestyle, while this figure was £19,000 for a single person.

The report also includes information about the amount you’ll need in your retirement pot and how many monthly savings you need to achieve it.

The next step to achieving early retirement is to assess your income. Look at the following:

State Pension. The State Pension qualifying age is 66, but this will increase. Retiring before this age means bridging any gaps your State Pension would have covered.
Personal Pensions. Many private pensions include an option to take money from age 55, but not all do. However, you should be mindful that taking too much cash early could leave you short of income when you retire.
Assets and Savings. Include any other assets or savings, including ISAs or rental properties. You may need to rely on these to provide income while waiting for your State Pension to kick in.

Your pension will likely provide the most significant proportion of your retirement income.

Consequently, having as large a pension as possible should be your aim.

Therefore, check out these ways to boost your pension pot.

Understand your options. Not all pension plans are the same. Some have higher charges, while others may perform better. You should understand your options to switch your funds to a scheme that maximizes growth and minimizes costs. Consulting a regulated financial advisor can help you make the right choices.
Make top-up contributions. You can increase the money in your pension pot by making top-up contributions. Even small additional payments can significantly impact the size of your pool. Remember, pension contributions qualify for tax relief. Therefore, even small top-up payments have an opportunity to grow significantly in the long term. As such, the earlier you make these additional payments, the better.
Join a workplace pension scheme. You should join one immediately if you aren’t auto-enrolled in a workplace pension. You will pay a small percentage (4%) of your salary into your pension pot each month. This amount is matched by your employer’s contributions (3%) and government tax relief (1%). It is an excellent means of building up a retirement fund.
Postpone your retirement. Delaying your retirement is another way to boost your pension pot. You will have a few extra years of earning a salary and making pension contributions. Your funds will also benefit from additional years of compound interest. Plus, you’ll still get a contribution from your employer and some tax relief from the government.

The good news is that you can achieve early retirement with some sensible planning.

If you feel this is what you want to do, create a picture of how you want your retirement lifestyle to look.

After that, you can determine how much you’ll need and what you must do to get that money to retire early.