Investment goals and timescales that influence your choices
If you want to plan for your financial future, it helps to understand risk. If you understand the risks associated with investing and you know how much risk you are comfortable taking, you can make informed decisions and improve your chances of achieving your goals.
Effective tool for reducing risk and volatility without necessarily giving up returns
When you start investing, or even if you are a sophisticated investor, one of the most important tools available is diversification. Whether the market is bullish or bearish, maintaining a diversified portfolio is essential to any long-term investment strategy.
Relentless and continual rise in value over the very long term, punctuated by falls
There is an undeniable correlation between geopolitics, market sentiment and the macro trading environment. But over long periods, we have seen markets recover from downturns, although past performance is no indicator of future performance.
Impact investing without sacrificing returns or profits
For those looking to make the world a better place, but not wanting to sacrifice returns or profits, impact investing aims to support a positive social or environmental impact, as well as looking to achieve compelling financial returns at the heart of sustainable investing.
Workers extend their careers for a multitude of reasons
When do you plan to retire? Saving for your retirement is a lifelong undertaking – and if you want to enjoy a comfortable retirement, you can’t start planning soon enough. The more you contribute to a pension now, the better chance you’ll have of that money growing and funding your retirement in later life.
Exactly how much you’ll need for a comfortable retirement will depend largely on your cost of living and lifestyle choices. For many people, retirement is about sun-soaked holidays, leisurely rounds of golf and that boat they’ve always coveted.
For most people over the age of 55, it is now possible to cash in or unlock all of your pension. How you take these benefits will depend on the type of scheme you have and how you want to take benefits. But concerns have been raised that some savers may risk running out of cash if they siphon too much out of their pension pots.
Families left in a precarious situation if the unforeseen were to happen
We all intend that our plans will come good. But making sure that you and your family can cope if you fall ill or die prematurely is something we can too easily put to one side. In particular, a recent study identified that financial protection is something that millions of fathers in the UK, and their families, could benefit from.
Whatever you want to do when you retire, the better prepared you are, the more rewarding it will be. It’s important to assess the key aspects that will influence your retirement, as the decisions you make can have a real impact on your savings. There are some important considerations to think about.
Taking the steps now to prepare yourself for retirement
With increasing numbers of people working past traditional retirement ages[1], stopping work can seem a long way off, especially for younger people. But it’s the dream of an early retirement that keeps many people going through the daily work grind.
