This article is part of Morningstar's Guide to Retirement Saving. All this week we are arming you with the tools you need to boost your pension pot and secure the best possible income in retirement.
A growing number of retirees are withdrawing funds in the wake of changes to pension regulations to pay for trips abroad, new research has revealed. According to research from the Post Office Travel Money, one-in-seven retirees who benefit from the new pension freedoms were planning to withdraw funds for travel.
But for private investor Douglas Rae, using his retirement funds to pay for a fortnight in the sun for him and his wife Patricia is “never going to happen.”
“There is no way that I would ever spend that money on travelling,” he says. “This money has to last the rest of our lives – it’s what I have always been saving for.”
Rae, aged 57, has amassed a considerable pension pot over the three decades of his career in finance.
“My firm had a very preferential scheme in terms of fees and contributions, so I always stuck with it and always ploughed any money from bonuses into my pension to avoid unnecessary tax.”
Rae, pictured below, says that he is “very pleased” with the pension reforms and while he welcomes the changes, he will not deviate from his original retirement plans bar a few tweaks here and there.
Until now, most people with a private or workplace pension have had to cash in their pension savings for an annuity which would provide a guaranteed income for the remainder of their life.
“I was never very keen on the past requirement to buy an annuity,” he says. “I hated the idea that my hard-earned – and saved – money would disappear when I died.”
Rae has taken 25% of his pension fund as a tax-free lump sum that he invested in premium bonds and an ISA wrapper invested in income paying assets. He has also has a pot of cash in a savings account for emergencies.
Pension Funds Help to Pay Down Debt
Rae and his wife have also used a portion of the lump sum to pay off the mortgage of their five-bedroom Midlothian home. However, Rae says that he has never viewed his property as an essential part of his retirement planning.
“My wife and I have always looked at our home as an investment as well as an asset. Now that our children have left home, we will likely downsize when my wife retires,” he said.
“But while any equity that will be released will be welcome, we haven’t planned to depend on it for living.”
Rae recently moved his pension savings from his company scheme, dividing the funds between accounts on investment platforms Hargreaves Lansdown and Chelsea Financial Services.
“It gives me peace of mind to know that I am in charge of my retirement money,” he explains.
“I know that if there is a mistake, it was my fault – but also, means I can be confident that I have my best interests in mind.”
However, Rae says that the most challenging part of pension planning is being confident that the money will last the rest of their lives.
“No one can predict how long we are going to live, so it is sensible to prepare as best we can,” he says.