Shirley Ballas: Hello, I'm Shirley Palace and welcome to Rewirement, The retirement
Shirley Ballas: podcast from Legal In General. This is the series that
Shirley Ballas: explores how to reset, reinvent and rewire for the retirement
Shirley Ballas: you want. Every fortnight I'm joined by straight talking, honest
Shirley Ballas: retirees and would be retirees with different experiences, hopes, and
Shirley Ballas: expectations for retirement.
Speaker 2: I think it might have been nice to have the
Speaker 2: option of thinking about reducing hours. And I haven't got that option.
Shirley Ballas: And my expert panel will be here to help too,
Shirley Ballas: with suggestions to help you feel confident, comfortable, and in
Shirley Ballas: control of your finances after you've quit the day job.
Shirley Ballas: Today, I'm hearing from people who are approaching retirement without
Shirley Ballas: a partner. I'll be finding out what difference this makes
Shirley Ballas: to your financial and emotional planning, as well as hearing
Shirley Ballas: about the options available to those who are going it
Shirley Ballas: alone. Today, we're going to hear from three people who
Shirley Ballas: are approaching retirement without a partner. Last time we met
Shirley Ballas: David, who's been working for the civil service for 42
Shirley Ballas: years and lives with his father.
David: I'm a single child. I still live at home. Sadly,
David: my mum passed away two years ago. So now it's
David: just Dad and myself. From a pension situation, I'm probably
David: due to get my national retirement pension when I'm about 66,
David: 67. I'm 62 now. I'm civil servant, so I have got
David: a civil service pension that I should be getting. If I do decide
David: to retire before pension age, then that will be something I can
David: maybe use.
Shirley Ballas: Liz is 55 and divorced with two grownup children. She doesn't
Shirley Ballas: have a pension.
Liz: I live in a little village in East Sussex. I have two
Liz: daughters, 26 and 24. When I was young, and we're
Liz: going back to 35 years ago, I was working in
Liz: a publishing company which got taken over by Robert Maxwell.
Liz: Now I did have a few years pension that I'd
Liz: built up, but he then went and killed himself and
Liz: had spent all our pension pots. So I didn't qualify
Liz: to get anything back from that. So I lost my
Liz: pension. Soon after that, I met my husband and we
Liz: had two children. The oldest one has a disability, so
Liz: she was in and out of hospitals. So again, I didn't work
Liz: then for about 15 years. When she was 15, I
Liz: went back to work part time. But again, I didn't
Liz: really earn enough money to warrant sort of putting any
Liz: away to go into a pension. Then five, six years
Liz: ago, my husband and I got divorced and he had his
Liz: own private pension, which he still has, and I don't
Liz: have access to. He had that. So at the moment,
Liz: I'm left with nothing really, but I do have my
Liz: house, which to me is kind of like my pension,
Liz: I suppose. I do not feel empowered about my financial
Liz: situation when I do retire. I have a sort of
Liz: plan, but it's a matter of, well I'll have to
Liz: do that because I don't have anything else kind of
Liz: thing. Up until a couple of years, well 18 months
Liz: ago, I was working, but I had a bad accident.
Liz: I fell off a ladder when I was cutting my
Liz: hedge and I completely smashed my leg up and spent
Liz: four months in hospital. I'm still kind of in rehab
Liz: from that. So at the moment, no, I'm not working.
Shirley Ballas: My next guest is Jenny. Jenny's a mum of two.
Shirley Ballas: She's always put into her pension and planned ahead, but
Shirley Ballas: still wonders what sorts of choices she might have to
Shirley Ballas: make compared to her married friends.
Jenny: Well, I'm approaching 58 and I live in Hove in
Jenny: East Sussex, near Brighton and Hove. I work as a
Jenny: social work manager and I've worked in social work, really
Jenny: all my professional life. And I've got two children, both
Jenny: grown up, one 27 and one 21. When you're single,
Jenny: you're aware that your finances have just one income. I
Jenny: suppose what I've noticed is friends who've been able to
Jenny: maybe work part time a much earlier point because they've
Jenny: got another income, or friends who've been able to think, "
Jenny: Well, I've had enough of being in my full time
Jenny: job for all these years, I'm going to have a
Jenny: break and then decide what to do." And I suppose
Jenny: I know that I couldn't have a break and take some
Jenny: time out. And I suppose, in an ideal world, that
Jenny: would be great. And also I think it might have
Jenny: been nice to have the option of thinking about reducing
Jenny: hours. And I haven't got that option, because my salary ...
Jenny: And I still got a daughter at university. So my salary is
Jenny: their salary. When I was younger, I didn't pay into
Jenny: a pension. I worked sort of freelancer as an agency
Jenny: social worker for about five years, which meant I didn't
Jenny: have a pension scheme at all. And then when I
Jenny: got a full time job, at that stage, when you
Jenny: left a job, you could withdraw your pension. So I
Jenny: did that. So it was only really when I was
Jenny: in my early 30s that I even considered the need to
Jenny: pay into a pension. I've got to keep working until
Jenny: I get my state pension, which obviously isn't until I'm,
Jenny: I think it's 67. So I think, I thought until
Jenny: I started to sit down and maybe consider the detail
Jenny: of the finances, I think I thought I was better
Jenny: placed than I actually am. I have thought at times
Jenny: I'd love to give up work and maybe do something
Jenny: more radical, go and live abroad, or do something significantly
Jenny: different. But I think if I wasn't wanting to do
Jenny: that, I feel fairly okay about continuing to work. I
Jenny: am mindful of being able to at least support my
Jenny: children in some way. I've got a house. I still
Jenny: got a mortgage on my house, but I've got a
Jenny: house that's worth ... It's not a big house, but it's worth a
Jenny: reasonable amount of money. And it doesn't make sense for
Jenny: me to have this and for them to have no
Jenny: means of getting on the property ladder. So I suppose
Jenny: I have thought quite a bit about moving to a
Jenny: cheaper area, not just for them, but also because that
Jenny: would potentially offer me something different. Because I do think
Jenny: as much as it's great living in one place and
Jenny: all the benefits of that, there's also that desire to
Jenny: have a change. I suppose my number one would be
Jenny: obviously health and happiness, but I would want to feel
Jenny: financially secure so that I can live a comfortable life,
Jenny: go on holidays if I wanted to, be able to
Jenny: have money available to support them. But then as somebody
Jenny: approaching retirement, it's thinking about contacts and friendships and social
Jenny: life you've got in an area. And how would you
Jenny: manage (inaudible) a single person? So, you know, that
Jenny: might make it more difficult.
Shirley Ballas: Without a pension. I asked Liz how she plans to
Shirley Ballas: finance her retirement.
Liz: I'd like to feel secure that when I could give
Liz: up work, I would have enough money to live on
Liz: every month. That would be lovely. And not have to
Liz: worry, and maybe the dream, buy a camper van and clear
Liz: off round Europe for a couple of years. It would
Liz: be lovely to feel that confident that you could do
Liz: that financially and you'd be secure enough. I will have
Liz: to sell my house and I will move to a
Liz: more reasonable area of the country, which I have family
Liz: in anyway, in Norfolk and Suffolk. So the plan is
Liz: at some point in the future, I'll sell my house
Liz: in East Sussex and I'll move to that area, which
Liz: will free up some money, which I will then invest
Liz: in something. And that hopefully will help me out in
Liz: my retirement.
Shirley Ballas: And when you look at how much you can sell your house for
Shirley Ballas: and how much you could possibly buy whatever property you're
Shirley Ballas: looking at, do you feel there's enough money there to
Shirley Ballas: live on?
Liz: Oh, will there ever be enough money to live on,
Liz: to do what we all wanted to do? I'm hoping
Liz: so. I'm hoping there'll be enough money to live on.
Shirley Ballas: Because also that needs to be sat down. You go
Shirley Ballas: through the allowance, you look at how much you're selling
Shirley Ballas: for, you're looking at how much you're buying for. Then
Shirley Ballas: you make, if you're a list person like me, then
Shirley Ballas: you make your list of how much there is, how
Shirley Ballas: much a month do you need to live on and
Shirley Ballas: whether you're comfortable with that amount or do you need
Shirley Ballas: to keep working past the date of retirement?
Liz: Yeah. I mean, that's something I'll have to sort of
Liz: cross as and when I get there, whether the money
Liz: I made out of my house here would be enough
Liz: if I invest it, to actually be enough for me
Liz: to live on monthly. I'm hoping it would be, but if
Liz: not, then there's always the option of a part time
Liz: job just to keep some money coming in. Hopefully, if
Liz: you're fit and well enough, then that's an option. I could
Liz: get a job behind the bar at the local pub.
Liz: That wouldn't be too bad, would it?
Shirley Ballas: I couldn't think of anything more exciting actually. See if you can
Shirley Ballas: get me one in there. I'll come with you Liz, okay?
Liz: Yeah, no problem.
Shirley Ballas: Even if you do know your pension fund will allow
Shirley Ballas: you to be comfortable in retirement, there are still questions
Shirley Ballas: and complexities to iron out. David told me about the
Shirley Ballas: scenarios he has to consider.
David: My civil service pension, I can really retire at any
David: time, but of course it does leave that gap between, if I
David: said I would retire at 62, it still leaves a four
David: or five year gap between then and getting my state
David: pension. So if I did decide to take a lump
David: sum and the whole amount, that would have to really
David: tide me right up till I get to my state pension.
Shirley Ballas: And do you think it could?
David: I don't know. I honestly don't know, because it's one
David: of those things. It depends on your lifestyle, what you
David: want to do. One thing I have got in my
David: favor, and it sounds dreadful, but if anything happened to
David: my dad, it would mean that I would then inherit
David: the house. And there's a house near us that's just recently been sold for 500,
David: 000 pounds. But that would mean looking at maybe equity
David: release. That's fine for a sort of stop gap. And
David: 500,000 would be very nice. But if anything happened to
David: me or if I became ill, I got serious illness
David: or Alzheimer or dementia or anything like that, what happens
David: about me going into a home or anything like that?
David: So it's something I have really got to stand back and
David: think about.
Shirley Ballas: And also because you're single, you've really got to have
Shirley Ballas: somebody you can trust, in case later on down the
Shirley Ballas: line, something like that happens and you do have to
Shirley Ballas: take equity release or any other financial situation that you
Shirley Ballas: have. You'll need someone you can trust.
David: Absolutely. Because I mean, you can't give a power of
David: attorney to somebody who you know is going to sort of suddenly go
David: off with all the money and leave you with nothing.
David: It's difficult. I mean, I have got friends, but nobody that I could
David: really turn and say, " I would like you to have
David: the power of attorney," because a lot of people might say, "
David: Well, I don't want that responsibility." Some people might say they
David: do, but others won't.
Shirley Ballas: That's interesting. Knowing who to turn to for advice, or
Shirley Ballas: just having someone you can trust to talk to or
Shirley Ballas: manage your affairs is an important consideration for the millions
Shirley Ballas: of single, divorced or widowed people making the move to
Shirley Ballas: retirement each year.
David: It's always a bit of a minefield with regard to
David: retirement and pension details, because there's so much out there
David: for people to sort of be told. As I said,
David: mentioned just now, the equity releasings, there are so many
David: adverts in the papers and on the television and all
David: this sort of thing. And it's just knowing who is
David: the right person to go to. What's the right thing
David: for me to do/ I mean, some people, you could
David: speak to friends, talk to friends about what have they
David: done, but what works well for one person doesn't necessarily
David: work well for somebody else. Who do you go to?
David: I mean, if I went to the bank, they've only
David: got their own best interest at heart. And it's the
David: same I think with a lot of places, they're selling
David: it to you at their angle. And I think you've
David: got to really be aware of what's happening.
Shirley Ballas: I asked Jenny where she turns for guidance.
Jenny: I wouldn't really know where to go. And a couple
Jenny: of times friends of mine have said, " Oh, well, you
Jenny: can talk to so- and- so my financial advisor." And
Jenny: I've said, " Well, how does that work? What did you
Jenny: pay them?" And they say, " Well, I don't know, I
Jenny: didn't really have to pay." So I suppose that's made
Jenny: me feel a bit unsure about how does that work.
Jenny: But I think if I was in a relationship, I
Jenny: think I probably would feel a bit more adventurous about
Jenny: maybe moving or maybe traveling. Whereas I would be more
Jenny: cautious, and I'll do some of traveling definitely, but the
Jenny: options are slightly different when you're just doing it on
Jenny: your own, I think.
Shirley Ballas: I asked Liz where she would look for information on
Shirley Ballas: her pension future.
Liz: I wouldn't necessarily ask about pensions and I think I've
Liz: left it a bit late now, and also not working,
Liz: I can't put any money into it. I would ask
Liz: about equity release. I would also ask that if I
Liz: sold the house and I had sort of like half
Liz: the money to invest, what would they suggest that I
Liz: put that in? That would be what I ask.
Shirley Ballas: Well, let me ask you a question. Who do you speak to about
Shirley Ballas: money and finance? Who's your confidant?
Liz: My family basically, sort of my brother and my sister
Liz: would be the main people I would speak to. My
Liz: brother's very sensible, very switched on about things like that.
Liz: So I would speak to him for a sensible conversation,
Liz: and I would speak to my sister just to sort
Liz: of get it off my chest and say, " I don't
Liz: know what I'm going to do." And then we'll come
Liz: up with a plan or something, but it's never a very
Liz: good plan. So my family basically would be the main
Liz: people I speak to.
Shirley Ballas: And do you ever talk to your children about finances?
Liz: No. I don't particularly discuss it much with them. No,
Liz: not really.
Shirley Ballas: Is there a reason, like for example, if you discuss
Shirley Ballas: it, do you think it's like a lesson for them
Shirley Ballas: when they move forward? Do you feel like it's, you
Shirley Ballas: just want to keep things more ... See. My mother is
Shirley Ballas: a very private person and I feel always about sharing,
Shirley Ballas: even though sometimes my son doesn't want to hear about a will
Shirley Ballas: or a pension policy or this or that, I feel
Shirley Ballas: it's important to share the ups and downs I've been
Shirley Ballas: through in my life, so that perhaps when he comes
Shirley Ballas: across those kinds of ups and downs himself, maybe he
Shirley Ballas: can reflect back. Do you feel perhaps it would be
Shirley Ballas: worth talking to them?
Liz: Yes, I suppose so. I mean, my youngest daughter's probably far more sensible
Liz: financially than I am. So she would probably talk to
Liz: me and tell me where I've gone wrong. So that's fine.
Liz: She's very sensible. She's got her world, her life sorted. So financially,
Liz: that's fine. The other one is not quite the same.
Liz: And yeah, I mean they know the situation, they know
Liz: that I've got a will, they know what's in it.
Liz: We talk about that. But I suppose there's no point.
Liz: I don't talk about, " Oh, what am I going to
Liz: do when I retire, because I won't be able to live
Liz: off the state pension," because I have got a plan
Liz: in place sort of, if it works. And also I
Liz: wouldn't want to worry them, it's not their problem, so
Liz: I wouldn't want to worry them. But yet, in a
Liz: way that they could learn by my mistakes to encourage
Liz: them, to look into things when they're younger and a
Liz: lot earlier, is sensible.
Shirley Ballas: It's a tough decision to make for anyone to sell
Shirley Ballas: up and move to a new area, even if it
Shirley Ballas: does release some cash from your property. We'll talk a
Shirley Ballas: little more about the options available here later on. First
Shirley Ballas: I asked David what he thought the challenges were for
Shirley Ballas: a single person in retirement.
David: At the moment, if I retired now, I still have
David: dad, but I mean, if I retired and he wasn't there, I
David: would just be on my own. I'm a fairly outgoing sort
David: of person. I mean, I would make myself go out
David: and that for meals, or go out, but it's always
David: very difficult. If you go out for a meal and
David: you're on your own, they either sit you've near the
David: kitchen or in the middle of the restaurant or somewhere
David: like that, or somewhere where nobody else wants to sit.
David: And what do you do? I mean, I've seen people
David: on their own in pubs and restaurants and this sort
David: of thing. And that's always, I think, a bit difficult
David: and it's always very sad in one sense, but I wouldn't
David: want people to pity me. I would just sort of
David: try and find somebody to go out with, and so
David: there were two of you to have a conversation. So yeah,
David: so loneliness, I think, would be one of the biggest challenges for
David: a single person. But the plus side is obviously you
David: can do what you want to do. So, if you
David: want to get up early, you can get up early.
David: If you don't want to get up early, you don't.
Shirley Ballas: You're on your own schedule.
David: You run your own show.
Shirley Ballas: You can always call me if I'm in the area. .
David: Absolutely, Shirley. If I want a dance partner, I'll do that. Thank you.
Shirley Ballas: I'll try not to tread on your toes.
David: Thank you.
Shirley Ballas: How do you personally plan to find your way around
Shirley Ballas: the lack of workplace community?
David: Some people aren't that gregarious. They don't go out and
David: want to do those sorts of things. And it's really,
David: for some people, a real push to make them do
David: something different. And I think it's difficult. If you're working
David: in an office, you get that daily routine, you get
David: the same people, you see the same people faces. They
David: get to know you, they get to know your moods.
David: They get to know if you're in a good mood
David: or a bad mood. If you're on your own, who
David: do you talk to? You've got to really get a network
David: of friends to be able to sort of go out
David: to and say to them, " This is a problem. I've
David: got a problem. This is what I need to do."
David: So, yeah. It's always a bit of a problem. But
David: I think if you really want to make that effort,
David: you can get out and do it.
Shirley Ballas: My mom's 82, by the way, and she still gets
Shirley Ballas: out and about, and has friends and across to Liverpool
Shirley Ballas: and up doing her washing and ironing. Likes her own
Shirley Ballas: company. Never got married again after the first husband.
David: I mean, some people do and some people do like their own company. And I mean, I can quite easily
David: spend the day in the garden or clearing the house
David: and tidying and this sort of thing. I just would
David: not be able to sit. I mean, some people say, "
David: Oh, I just like to sit down and watch the
David: television." I couldn't do that all day every day. I
David: mean, it's nice to watch some programs, but you've got
David: to really sort of get out and do things, otherwise you just [ inaudible 00:18:40].
Shirley Ballas: I asked Jenny, if she thought her social life would
Shirley Ballas: change when she stopped working.
Jenny: Yeah, it does provide friendships and it does provide stimulation
Jenny: and structure. But I suppose I do think you can
Jenny: find that in other ways. I suppose I've seen people
Jenny: replicate some of that through voluntary work or hobbies. But
Jenny: no, I think it's easy to underestimate maybe the positives
Jenny: of work. You know, I've lived here for 20 years.
Jenny: One of my sort of best friends lives around the
Jenny: corner. I've got nice ... You know, I obviously have got to know quite
Jenny: a lot of people. It's more that, that I would
Jenny: be really conscious of if you move, what's that like?
Jenny: But then I have also got friends and even my
Jenny: parents who moved at a similar age to me and
Jenny: they very quickly make new connections and friends.
Shirley Ballas: Planning for your future when you're solo can be a
Shirley Ballas: different game, not just from a financial standpoint, but also
Shirley Ballas: in terms of your relationships, living situation and those who
Shirley Ballas: depend on you for support. If that's you, hopefully today's
Shirley Ballas: conversations have reassured you that there are many people out
Shirley Ballas: there facing the same questions and decisions. In each episode,
Shirley Ballas: I get a chance to put these questions to the
Shirley Ballas: experts. And today I'm joined by Chris Knight, the CEO
Shirley Ballas: of Legal In General Retail Retirement, and Joe Hemmings, a
Shirley Ballas: behavioral psychologist and author. It's great to talk to you,
Shirley Ballas: Joe and Chris. Joe retirement is a big life change
Shirley Ballas: for anyone to navigate emotionally. What added dimensions do you
Shirley Ballas: think being solo, whether that's single, widowed or divorced brings
Shirley Ballas: to this?
Joe Hemmings: I think it's all about emotional preparedness. I think if
Joe Hemmings: you're single and you've been working or you're, solo and
Joe Hemmings: you've been working, what you've had for a great deal
Joe Hemmings: of your daily life is the companionship and camaraderie and
Joe Hemmings: company of other workers, colleagues. And that's a big chunk
Joe Hemmings: of a week. You may be used to being on
Joe Hemmings: your own in the evening or at weekends, but to
Joe Hemmings: have that taken away can be quite a difficult thing
Joe Hemmings: for some people. So I think knowing, being prepared and
Joe Hemmings: planning in advance or knowing that bulk of your hours,
Joe Hemmings: though you may have been working well with other people, you
Joe Hemmings: will need to sort of think about replacing that with
Joe Hemmings: other company.
Shirley Ballas: Do you have many clients who are approaching a retirement
Shirley Ballas: change? What sorts of questions do they come up with?
Joe Hemmings: The ones who've come to me are often the ones
Joe Hemmings: who were dreading it, who were very fearful, who wondered
Joe Hemmings: how that third trimester of life was going to pan
Joe Hemmings: out. Didn't know what to do. Needed reassurance. But they're the
Joe Hemmings: ones, sometimes, who have already been thinking about it a
Joe Hemmings: bit. The ones who I think need it most, who
Joe Hemmings: probably wouldn't come to me, are those that think it's going to
Joe Hemmings: be fantastic. It's going to be a breeze. It's going
Joe Hemmings: to be marvelous. I won't look back. And they're sometimes
Joe Hemmings: the ones who actually have the biggest shock to their
Joe Hemmings: system, if you like, rather than the ones who anticipate
Joe Hemmings: it's going to be quite different.
Shirley Ballas: You must hear some inspiring stories.
Joe Hemmings: Very inspired by lots of people. I think together we've made
Joe Hemmings: a sort of plan about what they'll do, and things
Joe Hemmings: that they may feel a bit uncomfortable about in the
Joe Hemmings: first instance, they'll give it a go. It's all about
Joe Hemmings: finding what feels right for you and adjusting to it.
Joe Hemmings: Nobody goes into retirement suddenly saying, " I'm going to go
Joe Hemmings: on holiday on my own. I'm going to go out
Joe Hemmings: for dinner every night on my own." These are things
Joe Hemmings: that you choose. You see if you like them, how do
Joe Hemmings: you adjust to them? Making new contacts, new friends, new
Joe Hemmings: associations. So it's getting that balance and knowing that things
Joe Hemmings: are going to change and how just taking baby steps
Joe Hemmings: to changing them, it doesn't have to be an overwhelming
Joe Hemmings: all at once significant change. But yeah, I've been pretty
Joe Hemmings: impressed by some of my clients.
Shirley Ballas: Are people more worried now about coronavirus?
Joe Hemmings: Well, I think there are three C three key things to remember here.
Joe Hemmings: Due to the coronavirus epidemic, actually, if there's any positive
Joe Hemmings: takeaway, it's that some of these people living on their
Joe Hemmings: own will have met neighbors they have never met before.
Joe Hemmings: So there've been a community around them that perhaps they just hadn't
Joe Hemmings: had the time or thought about getting to know before.
Joe Hemmings: But that's one of the key things. To know, actually,
Joe Hemmings: and we're talking about stats, but actually they're more single
Joe Hemmings: people living in this country than ever before. So you
Joe Hemmings: will not be alone in that situation. So do not
Joe Hemmings: be fearful about reaching out to communities, to other people,
Joe Hemmings: to getting to know new people, however you do it.
Joe Hemmings: Via going to the gym or a local organization or
Joe Hemmings: community center. That's really important. Secondly, I say, make technology
Joe Hemmings: your friend, because lots of older people have got by
Joe Hemmings: without really using any technology at all, apart from their
Joe Hemmings: phones. And there's a whole world out there that's quite easy
Joe Hemmings: to use, that will keep you in touch with friends
Joe Hemmings: and relatives on video calls, that will get you onto
Joe Hemmings: social media. I mean, there's so much information out there. It's not
Joe Hemmings: that hard, even if you've ignored it up to now.
Joe Hemmings: Get to learn it, because it really will be your
Joe Hemmings: companion. And thirdly, on a practical level, there are so
Joe Hemmings: many free things to do. So even if you're fretting
Joe Hemmings: a bit about how far your money is going to
Joe Hemmings: stretch, anybody in any town or near a town, will
Joe Hemmings: have loads of free things to do. They could be
Joe Hemmings: art galleries, museums, events. There's so much out there that
Joe Hemmings: costs no money at all. And it's a great way of
Joe Hemmings: getting out. And it's a great way of meeting other people too.
Shirley Ballas: Chris, it's great to have you back again. Our rewirerees
Shirley Ballas: have talked about being unsure where to go for advice.
Shirley Ballas: How do you cut through all the jargon that's out there?
Chris Knight: Yeah, there is an awful lot out there, isn't there? First of all, your
Chris Knight: existing pension providers should be sending you something called a
Chris Knight: wake up pack, which will give you some useful information.
Chris Knight: So have a look at that and go onto their
Chris Knight: websites, and maybe go onto the websites of some other
Chris Knight: providers. There's a couple of really good free sources out
Chris Knight: there. There's Pensionwise, which is a government backed organization. You can
Chris Knight: actually get free advice conversations when you get to retirement. And
Chris Knight: lots of people find them really, really helpful. So definitely go
Chris Knight: onto Pensionwise. There's also the money advice service, which again,
Chris Knight: it's a government thing. So it's very independent and that
Chris Knight: gives you a lot of help if you want to
Chris Knight: shop around, because people really should look to shop around.
Chris Knight: Or your employer or your pension scheme you're a member
Chris Knight: of, probably gives you some access to financial advice too.
Chris Knight: Or you can go onto something like unbiased. com and
Chris Knight: get the name of a local financial advisor in your
Chris Knight: area. But take time to do it. There's no rush.
Chris Knight: And if you can bring yourself up to speed and people get
Chris Knight: themselves informed, they'll feel much better about it. They'll feel
Chris Knight: much more confident to make the right decisions for themselves.
Shirley Ballas: The stats show that women often retire with smaller pensions
Shirley Ballas: than men. Why do you think that is?
Chris Knight: Yeah, Shirley, unfortunately that is often quite true. And it's
Chris Knight: largely to do with what happens during a women's working
Chris Knight: lives, which tends to mean that either they or their
Chris Knight: employers pay less money into pension pots. So for example,
Chris Knight: women are more likely to take career breaks at some
Chris Knight: point during their career, either to look after children or
Chris Knight: to look after other relatives. And they're more likely, women
Chris Knight: are more likely to have worked part time or in
Chris Knight: other kind of areas or roles, where in the past
Chris Knight: there wasn't such great pension provision. And then of course,
Chris Knight: there's that sort of famous salary gap, where women have
Chris Knight: earned less than men in the past. So from that
Chris Knight: perspective, they often have smaller pots to work with. And
Chris Knight: the other truth is that women tend to live longer
Chris Knight: than men as well. So the smaller pots that women
Chris Knight: have tend to have to stretch that bit further. I
Chris Knight: think it's worth saying that studies sometimes show that women
Chris Knight: are a bit less confident than men in the sort
Chris Knight: of financial planning area. That's not really true. I mean,
Chris Knight: women are just as good if not better than men,
Chris Knight: about making the right decision. So that again, if they
Chris Knight: take the time to get themselves informed and look at
Chris Knight: all their options, they can be in a much better place.
Shirley Ballas: Joe, what is a healthy, mental approach to retirement? I
Shirley Ballas: stayed in bed there the day till 10: 30. I was
Shirley Ballas: so upset for 48 hours. I tell you, I couldn't
Shirley Ballas: get it out my mind that I didn't feel productive.
Shirley Ballas: I have to get up. Well now with the coronavirus
Shirley Ballas: eight o'clock, but normally I'm up at six.
Joe Hemmings: You can still do something productive Shirley, [ inaudible 00:27:24]. Don't forget that.
Joe Hemmings: I don't think you should be too hard on yourself. I
Joe Hemmings: think it's perfectly okay to lie in bed until 10: 00
Joe Hemmings: AM on your first day or two, after a time
Joe Hemmings: and possibly even your first week. But no, I don't
Joe Hemmings: think it's a very good pattern to keep, but I
Joe Hemmings: understand how you might just want to see what it
Joe Hemmings: feels like. If you've been getting up for years at
Joe Hemmings: six or seven o'clock in the morning, it's going to be a huge treat just to
Joe Hemmings: see what it feels like to lie in bed till 10.
Joe Hemmings: So I expect people to do it for a couple of days,
Joe Hemmings: of course. And then I think you need a sense
Joe Hemmings: of purpose. You feel that you've got to do something, you can't
Joe Hemmings: spend the rest of your days in bed. Though there's nothing wrong with
Joe Hemmings: a few lie ins. So don't be too hard on himself.
Shirley Ballas: Lots of people we've talked to say they are looking
Shirley Ballas: forward to more time socializing and traveling. But as David
Shirley Ballas: said there, you don't always want to go out to
Shirley Ballas: dinner alone. What other opportunities are there to enjoy these
Shirley Ballas: things in later life when you're on your own?
Joe Hemmings: Well, as I mentioned earlier, there are opportunities for socializing through
Joe Hemmings: organizations, through cinema clubs, theater clubs, whatever your interest is, art,
Joe Hemmings: your hobbies, walking. I mean, there it is all there before you,
Joe Hemmings: but there's also the possibility of dating in later life.
Joe Hemmings: If you're single and you want to meet somebody. I
Joe Hemmings: have a lot of clients who are well past retirement age,
Joe Hemmings: who are still having a ball, enjoying meeting people online.
Joe Hemmings: And they don't have to go out for dinner on their own
Joe Hemmings: because they have someone to go out with. So all
Joe Hemmings: that freedom, it's like being 18 again, but with a
Joe Hemmings: little bit more money and a little bit more sense
Joe Hemmings: and more liberation. So I would always encourage people to
Joe Hemmings: do that, if that's what they want to do. There's
Joe Hemmings: definitely no time limit on the dating side of things.
Shirley Ballas: Oh, I'm glad you said that. Thank you.
Joe Hemmings: Oh, Shirley. You and I need to have a separate conversation.
Shirley Ballas: I would like to have a separate conversation, I think.
Shirley Ballas: There's a few things I'd like to ask, actually. I
Shirley Ballas: think David raised a good point about having someone to
Shirley Ballas: talk to when the unexpected happens. How important is a
Shirley Ballas: good support network?
Joe Hemmings: Well, it's very important. I mean, but it's a two
Joe Hemmings: way process. So I think often you get fulfilled by
Joe Hemmings: supporting somebody else as well. I think, again, this is
Joe Hemmings: something coronavirus has showed us. There's always someone more vulnerable
Joe Hemmings: than that you can help. And that makes us feel good.
Joe Hemmings: But yes, knowing that you've got one or two people
Joe Hemmings: who will be there for you, come what may, and
Joe Hemmings: doing that sort of swap so you're there for each
Joe Hemmings: other, is incredibly important. Again, it's a safety net, a
Joe Hemmings: sense of security and companionship and friendship. These are things
Joe Hemmings: that we value so much more in retirement, because they
Joe Hemmings: become that much more a priority and that much more significant.
Shirley Ballas: Chris, it must be even more important to consider how
Shirley Ballas: you'll fund your retirement when you're on your own.
Chris Knight: Yes Shirley, I think that's absolutely true. I think that's
Chris Knight: true both for retirees who don't have partners and for
Chris Knight: people who are retiring and don't have children. There's a million
Chris Knight: people age over 60 that don't have children. And I
Chris Knight: think sometimes they get left out of the debate. But
Chris Knight: not having a partner or a support network can make
Chris Knight: things more expensive. So people thinking about that might want
Chris Knight: to think about having a higher rainy day fund than
Chris Knight: they would otherwise do. People might also want to think
Chris Knight: about their insurance and making sure that they have protection
Chris Knight: there. And finally, maybe thinking about products that provide guarantees,
Chris Knight: like guarantees of income. So you don't have to worry
Chris Knight: or rely on anybody else.
Shirley Ballas: When people have divorced, their pension situation may also change.
Shirley Ballas: It's often the last thing on your mind to sort
Shirley Ballas: out. What guidance can you give on navigating this?
Chris Knight: Yeah, look, I mean, divorce is a complex thing and
Chris Knight: pensions are a complex thing as well. So putting the
Chris Knight: two together is really doubly difficult. And I think often
Chris Knight: pensions are the things that get left to last if
Chris Knight: you like in a divorce. So as well as getting
Chris Knight: good kind of legal advice, you might want to get
Chris Knight: good financial advice at the same time. I mean, one
Chris Knight: interesting situation that often happens with divorce is that sort
Chris Knight: of one person, so often the woman, would end up
Chris Knight: with the house maybe, and the other person in the
Chris Knight: divorce has kept to the pension assets and that's all
Chris Knight: fair and above board and everything else, but it does
Chris Knight: mean that the one with the house, the woman might need
Chris Knight: to use the house more to fund retirement than use
Chris Knight: pension assets. And you know, it's a bit more complicated. It's
Chris Knight: definitely not impossible, but it's definitely worth thinking about and
Chris Knight: getting some good financial advice on that too.
Shirley Ballas: Chris, are there some more practical things people can do
Shirley Ballas: to afford the retirement they want? Does Jenny have to
Shirley Ballas: choose between the neighborhood she's always known or having a
Shirley Ballas: bit more cash in retirement?
Chris Knight: Well look, downsizing into another property or an age specific
Chris Knight: property in your neighborhood might be a really good idea.
Chris Knight: And there are, these days, more variety of those kinds
Chris Knight: of properties available. At Legal In General, we're investing in
Chris Knight: those things too. But if you really want to stay
Chris Knight: in your own home, then a lifetime mortgage, which is
Chris Knight: a type of equity release, might be a good option
Chris Knight: too. You're going to stay in that house forever. And you don't have
Chris Knight: to worry about that. And the lifetime mortgage can provide
Chris Knight: you with some cash, either sort of as a lump
Chris Knight: sum or as a regular payment or some sort of
Chris Knight: combination of the both. So it's quite flexible. So it
Chris Knight: does reduce the value of the inheritance if you want
Chris Knight: to leave that to the next generation, but you can
Chris Knight: also kind of earmark a part of your house to
Chris Knight: be left to the children or grandchildren. That's called inheritance
Chris Knight: protection, which is becoming increasingly popular. So for many people,
Chris Knight: that's a really good option, but they should definitely talk to
Chris Knight: a financial advisor.
Shirley Ballas: When you die, does the equity release people take all
Shirley Ballas: your home or do they only take the portion that
Shirley Ballas: you've taken out for equity release?
Chris Knight: No, that's a really good question, and people often worry
Chris Knight: about that. No, the house gets sold and then you
Chris Knight: pay back to the equity release company just want you owe
Chris Knight: them. So it's the 30, 000 pounds. And yeah, if you've
Chris Knight: paid the interest, then it's just 30,000 pounds, but you can
Chris Knight: also not pay the interest, because many people, they can't
Chris Knight: afford to pay the interest, they don't want to pay the interest.
Shirley Ballas: And then that gets taken out.
Chris Knight: Exactly. Yeah, exactly. There used to be, in the old
Chris Knight: days, those kinds of products, but fortunately those products, they're
Chris Knight: not out there anymore. It's a much better kind of
Chris Knight: environment than it used to be, to be honest.
Shirley Ballas: Chris is equity release for everyone?
Chris Knight: No, Shirley. It's not for everybody, but we think it would help
Chris Knight: a lot of people. But the key thing is to
Chris Knight: get some good financial advice. So, find a good financial advisor
Chris Knight: and talk to them about it.
Shirley Ballas: Thank you. Some truly helpful thoughts on making sure you're
Shirley Ballas: ready financially and emotionally for solo retirement. Hopefully you can
Shirley Ballas: have some action points and ideas to help you feel
Shirley Ballas: comfortable and enjoy the retirement you deserve. You can find
Shirley Ballas: out more about retirement planning at legalingeneral. com/ retirement. In
Shirley Ballas: our next episode, we'll be talking about how to fund
Shirley Ballas: your dream retirement. Whether you want to tour the nation
Shirley Ballas: on a narrow boat, start a business or pack off
Shirley Ballas: to the sunnier shores. Subscribe on your podcast listening platform,
Shirley Ballas: and you'll get it on your device as soon as
Shirley Ballas: it's available. Thanks for listening. I'm Shirley Palace and I'll
Shirley Ballas: catch up with you next time.