Essentially Wealth Q3 Summer 2025

Don’t rely on gut instinct for your retirement needs

Planning for retirement is one of the most important financial decisions you’re likely to make, yet a surprising number of people still treat it like a guessing game. Standard Life’s Retirement Voice reported that one in six UK adults (16%) are relying on gut instinct to work out how much they’ll need in later life. More worryingly, nearly two in five (39%) don’t have a retirement target at all, including 43% of eneration X and 34% of Baby Boomers,who are already approaching or beyond State Pension age.

This uncertainty breeds unease. Almost half of those surveyed (47%) fear their savings won’t last the length of their retirement. And with so many unknowns – including how long you’ll live, when you’ll retire, the impact of inflation, your desired lifestyle – it’s easy to see why guesswork falls short.

Common pitfalls include relying too heavily on the State Pension, just £230.25 per week in the 2025/26 tax year. People also underestimate how long retirement might last or forget to factor in taxes and irregular costs. Retirement spending isn’t a steady decline either, it often peaks in early active years and again in later life due to health or care needs.

Planning beats guessing

Whether you’re approaching retirement or still decades away, planning beats guessing. It’s never too late to get clarity. A good place to start is to think about when you want to retire, explore your income options, and work out whether your retirement savings are likely to support the lifestyle you want.

Everyone’s retirement needs are different, dictated by their personal goals, family, health and location. That’s why personalised planning matters. We can help remove the guesswork by using your details and requirements to calculate realistic scenarios for retirement, and help you make changes now that could help prevent you from falling short when you retire.