Retirement Planning Project

I want to help as many people as possible make the right decisions at retirement and plan for a financially secure retirement with peace of mind and security. To do this I have set up the Retirement Planning Project.

The project will make it easier for people to learn about pensions and retirement planning and easier to get help or advice. I hope the project will help close the advice gap.

The Retirement problem

The problem is that although most people agree it is important to have a good retirement plan they don’t do anything about it and end up muddling by.

The problem is made worse because many people make don't get the right help or advice and end up making bad decisions which can lead to poor outcomes.

Education, education, education!

Everybody talks of education and whilst it is very important, the reality is most people find it difficult to get to grips with their pensions and retirement planning. It is not just because it seems so complicated and confusing, it also is because there are so many barriers, misconceptions and red tape preventing people from engaging with their pension and retirement planning.

Every time I hear the word ‘education’, I think of the famous quote attributed to Confucius:

Confucius, he say:

Tell me something and I will forget it – Just lecturing you about your pensions is dull and boring
Show me something and I will remember it – You will respond better to pictures and graphics than plain words
Involve me with something and I will understand it – You should never make important decisions without understanding the key issues

Getting people more involved with retirement planning

I have been advising clients for over 25 years and have helped hundreds of people with their pension and retirement planning and advised them about converting their pension pots into cash and income. I know how difficult it is for most people to start planning for retirement. Partly because of their understandable mistrust of the financial services companies and financial advisers and partly from the lack of interest in anything to do with to pensions.

I have tried a number of ways to help people get more involved and take more interest but this has mostly fallen on deaf ears but I am going to have another go by making learning more interesting and making it easier to access advice. The project will:

Make it easier to understand retirement options - I will be publishing more guides, videos and podcasts
Answer people's retirement questions - there is a Q&A forum and helpline
Make it easier to access financial advice - free "toe in the water" zoom meeting with an adviser

Next step

I have launched the project on my website and will be reaching out to as many people as possible. This includes individual clients and those responsible for running workplace pensions.

I cannot do this single handed so I am looking for 'project partners' and 'project advisers'.

Retirement is a serious business, to change Jane Austen's famous quote, so a serious effort is needed to make sure the current generation plan sensibly for retirement.