17 September 2026
Written by Lee Coles, Senior Financial Wellbeing Consultant
With Pensions Awareness Week in full swing, I’ve taken the unusual step of holding off writing anything until I’ve seen what others have to say.
What subjects do I think should be covered that perhaps are being ignored or glossed over? Can I spot any obvious gaps?
As it goes, there’s lots of great content out there. I agree with everything that’s being said about building awareness of what you’ve got, how much you’re paying in and tracking down lost pensions. Of course, growing your understanding of how and why your savings are invested in a specific way is also important.
For me, and this is no surprise, there is probably not enough being said about understanding the problem pensions are trying to solve.
How much is enough?
The vast majority of us want to stop working at some point in our lives. When we do, our salary stops and we need a different source (or more likely sources) of income to get by.
The first step in terms of improving awareness for me is an appreciation of how much is enough. Part of that equation is about a level of income or lump sums you might desire, and inevitably there is also a link to when you want retirement to start.
Throughout my decades in this industry, I’ve seen most people have their retirement defined by the savings they eventually count up when they decide to stop work.
For most savings goals, the approach is to initially establish what you want and need, then save for that specific amount in the time you have available, so why not follow that rule when planning for your life after work?
There is an argument that saving for retirement has more variables than your average saving goal - given how long you are saving for and how long the money has to last - but I would still advocate for an increasing appreciation of what you need and want as your working life progresses.
Perhaps the introduction of the Retirement Living Standards has made us all a little lazy when considering retirement adequacy? This is certainly where I was directed when I tried out a couple of search engines and AI providers to source the answer. It is a reasonable place to start if this research is not something you’re familiar with.
My personal view, however, is that whilst the Standards have merit as an approximate rule of thumb for those up to around 20 years away from retirement, once we start to get closer than that, we need to think deeper.
They say ignorance is bliss – really?
When running one on one pension clinics, I think I’ve seen pretty much seen the full spectrum of outcomes from people who essentially have buried their heads in the sand about what they want compared to what they are on track to receive; the joy at the final realisation of what 40 years in a Defined Benefit scheme was going to provide and the despair of learning £20,000 in a pension was the total amount in the pot not the income that was going to be paid annually.
Surely it is better to realise you’re off track 20 years out when you can do something about it, rather than wait until much closer and keep your fingers crossed?
My suggestion is to get personal - how much is enough for you in your circumstances? Try the following exercise where you’re asking yourself the big questions:
When? Put a timeframe about when you want to change from your current working pattern, health permitting.
How? Is this a full-time jump into full-time retirement or do you see yourself slowly reducing your hours?
Where? Housing in retirement is an enormous determinant in how much money is enough?
What? What do you want your life to look like? It’s just as important to think about things you want to do, alongside the absolute must haves and rainy day considerations.
Will your needs change? Most pension calculators and indeed the Retirement Living Standards tend to work on the principle that aside from inflation, the amount of income you want at the start of retirement will continue throughout your 70s, 80s and beyond.
Have you factored in tax? This is a big one, because again most statements, calculators and projections might at best tell you if money is taxable, but not how much tax you might pay. For me, it’s more important to care about the money that will actually end up in my bank account than any pre-tax figure.
Whilst pension awareness is imperative, we do need to remember that pension plans are ultimately solutions and perhaps one of what might be a number of different sources of income we can access to fund our futures. The homework I’m setting asks you to focus initially on defining the question, the problem, the need, before you seek to understand how your pension savings can be best utilised with the flexibility now open to us.
Employee benefits and workplace pension arrangements are subject to provider terms, scheme rules and applicable legislation. Benefits and features will vary depending on the arrangement selected and individual circumstances. Information provided is for general guidance only, reflects the views of the author at the date of publication, and does not constitute personal financial, investment, pension, or tax advice.
