A goal without a plan is just a wish

We all dream, don’t we? Sometimes these dreams are good dreams, sometimes they are not so good. We tend to wake after a dream with thoughts on what has just happened, asking ourselves, what the hell does that mean and often, how can I make that dream come true!

An example of this is the National Lottery. We all dream about winning the lottery and we act on that aspiration by buying our ticket/s and keeping our fingers and toes crossed that our lucky numbers will be plucked out on a weekly basis. In the case of the lottery, we dream about winning but ultimately unless we buy every ticket available, we have no real control on the outcome.

Let’s apply this same theory to Pensions (sorry, very tenuous link I know). If we are employed and haven’t opted out of our workplace pension, we are paying into our pension and our employer does too. If we don’t pay any interest to what is happening with our pension in terms of how much is invested or where the funds are invested, we are simply ambling along ‘wishing’ that the outcome may be good and that we can retire happily without a care in the world. This is our dream but without scrutiny around understanding our pension more, this dream could turn into a nightmare.

Let’s turn this on its head for a moment. If I have a retirement goal of a certain income level at retirement and I know what it will cost me to fund my pension to reach my target, this is the ideal, informed situation to be in. Now don’t get me wrong, the additional contribution levels needed could be very high and although I could try and reduce some other current spending to fund my pension, is this something that I want to do? Probably not. However, if I am aware of the shortfall and the cost of funding that shortfall at least I have the information required to take steps if my current financial position allows.

At Wingate, every member of a workplace pension for whom we provide our Standard Workplace Pension services to their employer has access to our member engagement services, one of which is our retirement forecasting service. Our retirement forecasting service is designed to help members understand what income they could receive in retirement. The results of this are very enlightening and help members better understand what their pension may offer; it also highlights whether they are making sufficient contributions to obtain the level of income in retirement they aspire to or whether they face a potential funding gap.

A common misconception is that employees believe that their company pension will sufficiently fund their retirement, as it is an employer sponsored arrangement. The retirement forecasting service helps prevent this misconception and helps to highlight the value of the employer’s contributions. The report is free to the member and can be updated as often as the member requires to reflect a change in their personal circumstances in the build up to their anticipated retirement date.

To help your employees fulfil their financial goals in retirement, please contact Wingate for more information on our services, on 01883 332260 or at info@wingatebs.com