After spending years working towards retirement, you may find it surprisingly easy to drift away from your original goals.
Your priorities shift over time. Then, you might reach your intended retirement date and wonder whether you’ve saved enough to support the lifestyle you imagined.
Failing to plan properly can cause significant financial and emotional stress. Aegon reports that people without plans are four times more likely to feel stressed about their long-term finances compared to those with well-developed plans.
Thankfully, there are several simple questions you can ask yourself to help you stay on track for your ideal retirement and secure some peace of mind. Here are five.
1. “Are my goals still accurate?”
You have likely spent considerable time thinking about the kind of retirement you want. These early ideas might have helped shape your savings habits and kept you motivated, but life rarely remains static.
What you pictured five, 10, or even 20 years ago might not be the lifestyle you now desire.
As such, it’s important to check whether your goals still reflect your current vision. For instance, you might now want to retire earlier, plan to work part-time, or have new ambitions, such as travel or supporting loved ones.
Or you might simply want a quieter life that would cost less than you first expected.
Reviewing your goals could help you determine whether they remain realistic. And, if they have changed, you can create new savings targets.
Doing so could also give you peace of mind, as you might gain a clearer picture of what you’re aiming for and how achievable it is.
2. “How much have I saved in my pension fund already?”
Once you’ve revisited your goals, it’s then worth taking stock of the savings currently available to you.
You may want to sit down and review any assets you intend to use for retirement. This could include your:
- State Pension
- Workplace or private pensions
- Investments, such as those held in Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) or General Investment Accounts (GIAs)
- Property wealth.
Pulling everything together can give you a better sense of your current position and can also help you identify gaps that need attention.
If you believe you’ve lost track of old workplace pensions, it’s worth locating these by:
- Reaching out to former pension providers
- Contacting your old employers if you can’t remember providers
- Using the government’s Pension Tracing Service if all else fails.
Even if you made only modest contributions to your lost pots, they may have accrued substantial compound returns over the years.
3. “How much am I likely to spend in retirement?”
Understanding how much you may spend each year is essential in determining whether your savings will stretch far enough.
The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association reports that a couple might need an average annual income of:
- £21,600 for a “minimum” retirement
- £43,900 for a “moderate” retirement
- £60,600 for a “comfortable” retirement.
These figures offer a helpful starting point. Yet, they’re only benchmarks, and your own spending will depend on the lifestyle you want and any goals you have.
So, it’s worth figuring out how much your ideal retirement might cost.
You should base this around your goals, as these will give you a rough idea of how much you’re likely to spend.
It’s also wise to consider inflation, which can erode your wealth’s purchasing power over time. Even modest price increases can have a significant effect over a long retirement.
Working out what your preferred lifestyle might cost can give you a better understanding of whether your current savings align with your ambitions. If they don’t, you still have time to adjust your plans.
4. “How long will my retirement last?”
Many people might underestimate how long their retirement might realistically last. Doing so can leave you financially vulnerable later in life.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 65-year-old men in the UK in 2023 could expect to live a further 19.8 years. This rises to 22.5 years for women.
Of course, these are just averages. You could end up living well into your 100s, meaning you need to fund a costly 20-, 30-, or even 40-year retirement.
A longer life also means your likelihood of requiring some form of care rises, too.
As of 26 November 2025, carehome.co.uk reveals that you could expect to pay an average yearly expense of:
- £67,496 for residential care
- £79,820 for nursing home care
Addressing these concerns now rather than later could reduce any uncertainty and help you avoid shortfalls later in life.
5. “How can I boost my retirement savings?”
If, after asking yourself the above questions, you feel you might not be on track to achieve your dream retirement lifestyle, it’s worth assessing the ways you can bolster your savings.
For instance, you might want to increase your pension contributions to grow your fund. Since you can’t access your retirement funds until later life, this forces you to leave them invested, meaning they benefit from potential growth over time.
Better yet, you can even benefit from tax relief, which is when the government essentially “tops up” any contributions based on your marginal rate of Income Tax. This means that a £100 contribution would only “cost”:
- £80 for basic-rate taxpayers
- £60 for higher-rate taxpayers
- £55 for additional-rate taxpayers.
You can only make tax-efficient contributions up to the Annual Allowance each tax year. As of 2025/26, this stands at £60,000, or 100% of your earnings, whichever is lower. This includes personal and employer contributions, as well as tax relief.
Even small boosts in contributions can make a significant different to the overall size of your fund later down the line.
Get in touch
We could help you identify opportunities to bolster your retirement fund and secure some much-needed peace of mind.
Email info@perennialwealth.co.uk or call 0117 959 6499 to find out more.
Risk warnings
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.
Please do not act based on anything you might read in this article. All contents are based on our understanding of HMRC legislation, which is subject to change.
A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances. Thresholds, percentage rates, and tax legislation may change in subsequent Finance Acts.
Workplace pensions are regulated by The Pensions Regulator.
The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax planning.
This article does not constitute tax, legal or financial advice and should not be relied upon as such. Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in the future. For guidance, seek professional advice.
