Introduction
Not just a
money question
Retirement is a major life transition. We save hard for it and even fantasise about it!
Naturally our mind is drawn towards our pension savings and how to make them last for the rest of our lives. It is important and we’ll help you make these decisions well. But a successful retirement is not just about what you’ll do, or even who you’ll do it with.
Retiring might leave a hole in your sense of identity – not just your diary.
How we help
About Retirement Planning
What is Retirement Planning?
Retirement Planning is about making sure both you and your money are ready for this next chapter of your life. Whether you’re excited or fearful, we’ll be with you all the way.
We’ll help you gain clarity on what you want to do in retirement – and with whom. We’ll help you address the concerns you already have – and even the ones you may not have considered.
We’ll then work out how best to make your money available to fund your plans, last for your lifetime and provide a legacy (should you wish to leave one). This will often involve your pensions, investments and savings*.
Why does planning for your retirement matter?
People regret what they don’t do much more than what they have done. Many people plan their retirement based on what they think they ‘should’ do rather than what they really want. Later in life their unlived dreams might become impossible due to health and these opportunities will have slipped away.
Optimising the way you turn your retirement savings into income is important. Running out of money during your lifetime is avoidable with careful ongoing financial planning. Investing sensibly is often a part of this – tax planning too*.
What people often ignore is the impact on their wellbeing when they step away from the world of work. Friendships might change, our sense of identity might be challenged, and we might lose our sense of purpose or drive. Before, at, and during retirement we’ll help you wrestle with these difficult questions as you navigate your next chapter.
Retirement is about more than the money.
Who can we help?
- More than five years out the focus will be on using your allowances and building up a range of tax wrappers.
- As you get closer, we’ll start to help you get clearer on the possibilities that retirement might bring. For some people this might involve a ‘trial retirement’, sabbatical, or a series of experiments to see if what you think you want to do is ‘fun’ in practice.
- In the final run up to retirement we’ll design, test and prepare a plan of how you’ll make sure you have money in the right place at the right time.
It doesn’t stop there – retirement is a journey. More frequently we are seeing people dip in/out of retirement two, three, or more times as they get clearer on what they want to do. Increasingly people choose to engage with work (paid or voluntary) during parts of their retirement. Your financial plan will need constant course corrections to make sure your money serves you – not the other way around!
*The value of investments can go down as well as up, and you may not get back the amount you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Tax Planning is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
We can help with:
- Financial Planning
- Investment Management
- Tax Planning
- Philanthropy
- Sustainable Investing
Still have questions or want to know more?
Ready to talk about the future?
Plan today, so you can live confidently and spend intentionally tomorrow.
Values
Why choose Paradigm Norton?
Attentive listener. Sounding board. Devils advocate. Your financial planner will keep you on track and will be there when most needed. We operate on a fee basis and will make you fully aware of our professional fees and charges before engagement.
We start the financial planning process with the most important part – You. We’re not here to show you the way: we’re here to guide and navigate you through a path of your own choosing.
As one of the largest independent financial planning companies in England, serving more than 1,000 clients, we’re not just Chartered Financial Planners… we’re tried and tested financial partners.
Money matters, but life matters more. Our motto flows through everything that we do, from connecting you to responsible investment strategies to enabling you to build a brighter future, with a lighter footprint.
As a Certified B Corporation®, and an employee-owned business we balance profit with purpose, people and the environment.
Real stories
A comfortable retirement
It’s important to know that your finances are working for you in retirement. Peter and Priscilla talk about the comfort they gain from having a financial expert on hand to educate them and do the worrying for them. Giving them the freedom to enjoy retired life in the country.
Team
Meet our experts
We think about financial planning differently. Rather than something you put off, or something that feels too big or too hard to start, we think planning for your future can and should be embraced and prioritised.
Tom Desborough
Client Manager
Simon Livings
Client Manager
Farida Hassanali
Client Manager
Mia Smith
Senior Financial Planner
Tommy Watson
Regional Director
Katie Wright
Senior Financial Planner
Richard Gray
Client Director
David Burridge
Regional Director
Paul Cardinal
Client Manager
Lee Dunn
Client Director/Head of Investments
Matt Goddard
Client Manager
Paul Hardinges
Client Manager
Caroline Leech
Client Manager
Daniel Limb
Client Manager
Sally Matthews
Client Manager
Rohan Patel
Client Manager
William Pratt
Client Director
Tracey Reed
Regional Director
Martin Ruskin
Client Director
Read
Brochure
Free financial planning resources
Discover our free financial planning resources to help you take control of your finances.
Questions
Retirement Planning FAQs
Here are some of the most common questions we’re asked about retirement planning and how we help guide you every step of the way.
I can’t wait to retire – how will I know that I have enough?
That’s very exciting – what are you going to do when you retire, and with whom? The first step to answering the ‘enough’ question is to design your spending plan. Knowing what money you need (and when) is crucial.
We’ll review any guaranteed income from pensions (including the State Pension), your assets (what you’ve saved, invested and put into pensions over the years), your commitments (spending and debts such as remaining mortgages), and work out how they might be drawn upon. We’ll stress test this financial plan to give you confidence.
Plans and circumstances change (not always for the better), so we’ll get together regularly to review your financial plan. If and when course corrections are needed we’ll help you make them confidently.
Retirement sounds too permanent – how can I make the right decision confidently?
It used to be the case that retirement was a one-way journey. These days it’s common to see people choosing to continue to work (whether paid or voluntary) in some capacity. Doing meaningful work can lead to greater wellbeing – we believe this is in a large part by being part of a community of shared purpose.
One way of helping build your confidence in your retirement plan is to try it out before you commit. Taking an extended period away from work could let you explore how you feel and whether you really want to do the things you thought. If your work supports it, a trial retirement or a sabbatical could be a great way to do this.
Some people find that easing into retirement by reducing the number of days they work helps. We’ve seen clients (and colleagues) gradually drop a day a week over a number of years. They find that this helps them build their ‘retired’ identity, test out volunteering opportunities, and feel more confident about retirement when they fully take the plunge.
I’ve heard about sequencing risk – how can I avoid running out of money?
People often take a fixed amount of money out of their portfolios each month when they retire. That might be from a pension, or other types of investment.
If the underlying investments* are falling then each payment will require a larger proportion of your portfolio to cover it. This leaves less money to potentially grow. If this sequence carries on it will erode the value of your portfolio. The opposite is true, but running out of money is a bigger concern. If you aren’t working you can’t simply replenish the pot from income.
There are several ways you can address the risk this presents. One approach might be to provide more guaranteed income (an annuity – where an insurance company takes on the risks in exchange for a lump sum).
Other approaches essentially look to build in flexibility about how or when payments are taken from the underlying investments, so you reduce the impact of sequencing risk. This might be by holding a cash buffer, combining investment approaches, or designing variability in the amount of money you take.
What’s right for you (often a combination) is personal and we’ll design a plan for you. Monitoring and adjusting over time is crucial – we’ll be with you every step of the way.
* The content provided is for demonstrational purposes only and does not constitute personal financial advice. Individuals should seek competent, regulated financial advice before making any investment decisions.
My family have all lived for a very long time indeed – how can I be certain that I won’t run out of money?
We start by building a financial plan which assumes that you live until age 100. Whilst the average life expectancy in the UK suggests you should expect to live into your 80s the data also shows that the longer you live (to an extent) the longer you can expect to live. We think that age 100 is a great start, but it’s not set in stone – we can test different scenarios.
Purchasing an annuity will provide you with a guaranteed income for life – no matter how long that is. This would address your concern, but most people need, or want, some flexibility to vary their spending. Some research suggests that our spending in retirement eases off after a while and then potentially accelerates later on, other research suggests the opposite!
What we do know is that planning is personal. We’ll help design a plan which gives you the confidence to live a great retirement and help you keep on track.
I love working and want to stay active – can I incorporate that in my planning?
Yes you can! From a purely financial perspective this takes the pressure off of your portfolio to cover your spending. This can reduce the impact of sequencing risk and help your money to last longer. But the real question is why, and how will this impact your other objectives.
What is it about work that you enjoy so much? Are you planning on staying in the same role, career, or company? Or do you just want to continue to be actively engaged in your profession or sector?
We have worked with people who have moved into a more consultative role either as a new venture, or sometimes as a Non-Executive Director. It’s been an opportunity to share their experience whilst giving the next generation of leaders space to grow. Our CEO, Philippa Hann, can attest to the opportunities that this can give rise to – even beyond your initial profession.
Sometimes it might just be that you find the mental simulation and time with other people is what you love. Continuing to work can be a way of maintaining this, but perhaps the flexibility of volunteering might be preferable. This might ignite a passion and take you in unexpected directions, maybe even founding a charity!
Whatever you do don’t forget to balance how you spend your time with your wider retirement plans.
Retirement is so far away – will retirement planning rob me of fun right now? Is it really worth it?
Saving for a future retirement is hard if we view it mostly as sacrifice. We think that a better approach is to have balance. In our guide “Building Firm Foundations” we encourage an intentional approach to spending, and as well as a deliberate approach to saving. If we don’t put money away for the future we will most likely spend it!
The clearer we are on why we are saving for the future the better, but when the goal is a long way away it’s hard! So rather than thinking about it as robbing you of fun today we’d encourage you to see it as providing flexibility for tomorrow.
Starting early is key. The longer we wait the less time our money has to grow. Compound growth is when we earn interest on the interest on the interest… Delaying can either mean having much less money available to fund retirement or having to save much harder later on. Either way the sacrifices you’d have to make in terms of retirement lifestyle, or future savings rates, are likely to outweigh those you make today.
In some cases, delaying could even mean turning down ‘free money’ in the form of employer pension contributions and tax relief. It varies but this might only be available to you if you also put money in.
Helping you keep it all in balance is something we can help you with.