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Time to wake up from a "fool's paradise"

THE FACTS

By 2050 the proportion of the British people aged 65 and over will increase from 28% today to 48%

In 1950 the average man retired at 67 and lived for 11 more years. Today he retires at 63 and lives for 20 years

More than 12 million people over the age of 25 are not saving enough for their retirement and more than two thirds of those are saving nothing

If you start saving at 30, your pension will be 40% less than if you started at 25

TIPS

Do not rely on the state to provide. Start making your own pension plans now.

Don't be put off by the word pension. Saving for retirement is about building up sufficient funds to meet your needs. A pension plan is simply a vehicle for saving that has some attractive tax breaks to increase your returns risk free. How a pension plan performs depends on what you invest the money in - and you can control this

As a rule of thumb, to work out the percentage of your salary needed to give you a comfortable retirement, take your age, and half it. So if you are 20, you should be saving 10% of your salary for your entire working life, if you are 30, 15% and so on

Seek expert advice - ensure that you have peace of mind that your retirement is everything that you want it to be - for a FREE, no obligation, Peacheys Wealth Management Limited's Personal HealthCheck, speak to our receptionists, or e-mail samantha.peachey@peacheys.co.uk