Essentially Wealth Q4 Autumn 2025

Take Stock and Strengthen Your Finances This Autumn

Forget New Year’s resolutions – autumn is the perfect time for a fresh start. The changing seasons naturally encourage reflection and planning, making it an ideal opportunity to review your finances and ensure you’re on track to achieve your long-term goals.

When was the last time you assessed your financial resilience? In an environment of ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, having strong financial foundations can help you feel more confident about both your current circumstances and your future.

Adapting to Changing Conditions

According to recent research, essential household expenses such as food and energy have continued to rise for many households during 2025. However, around a quarter of people reported that their housing costs have eased slightly.

Despite ongoing cost-of-living pressures, there are encouraging signs that retirement planning is recovering. This year, 43% of UK adults said that higher living costs had disrupted their retirement plans and savings, down significantly from 75% in 2024.

This suggests that many people are regaining control of their finances and refocusing on their long-term objectives.

Make Time for Your Pension

One area highlighted by the research is a significant knowledge gap around pensions.

• Seven in ten people are unsure of the current value of their pension pot.
• More than half (52%) have not considered how much money they will need in retirement.

Regular pension reviews are essential to ensure that your contributions, investment choices and overall retirement strategy remain aligned with your goals. Even small adjustments made today can have a meaningful impact on your future financial security.

Do You Have Adequate Short-Term Savings?

The findings revealed a mixed picture when it comes to savings.

While fewer people are relying on their overdraft after covering essential living expenses, many still lack a dedicated emergency fund.

Having accessible short-term savings is a crucial part of financial resilience. An emergency fund can help cover unexpected expenses, such as home repairs, car maintenance or periods of reduced income, without disrupting your long-term financial plans.

Review Your Protection Arrangements

It’s easy to take out a life insurance policy and then forget about it, but your protection needs are likely to change over time.

Major life events can significantly affect the level of cover required, including:

• Marriage or divorce
• Having children
• Moving home
• Taking on a larger mortgage
• Changes in income or employment

Regularly reviewing your protection arrangements helps ensure that you and your loved ones remain adequately protected should the unexpected happen.

Build Financial Resilience Today

True financial resilience is about balancing immediate financial needs with long-term ambitions.

By regularly reviewing your pensions, savings, investments and protection arrangements, you can create a stronger financial foundation and increase your confidence in the future.

How We Can Help

Whether you’re looking to review your retirement plans, strengthen your savings strategy, assess your protection needs or make the most of your investments, professional financial advice can help you make informed decisions with confidence.

Get in touch to discuss your financial plans and ensure you’re well positioned for whatever the future may bring.

Source: Royal London’s Financial Resilience Report, 2025.