Talk Money, Talk Pensions

What Is Talk Money Talk Pensions Week?

The week-long event by the Money and Pension advice service aims to get people feeling more comfortable with talking about their finances.

The theme for this year is ‘financial wellbeing’ with the goal of helping people find ways to feel more financially secure and in control of their financial future – knowing they can manage their day to day finances and deal with any unexpected issues that might crop up.

And, this is important whether you’re retired or still working. Having knowledge of what financial future you can expect and a plan of how to carry it out is one of the things many clients say is a huge relief when they’re told they can take that holiday to Europe or start that golfing hobby they’ve always wanted to.

“When we first came to Joslin Rhodes I genuinely believed I wouldn’t be able to retire and to be told that not only could I afford it but we’d still be able to go on all the holidays we wanted and I could do it two years earlier than expected, was absolutely amazing.”

What’s The Point of Talk Money Talk Pensions Week?

When you consider money is one of the UK’s least favourite subjects, events like this to help people consider, save and learn how to effectively plan for retirement is an important part of everyone taking better care of their finances, and goes some way towards removing the stigma of talking about money.

This is particularly important when reports say that many work-age people in the UK struggle to manage daily finances, prepare for big life events and plan for retirement.

Plus, with the stigma of openly discussing finances many worry silently they can’t afford the life they want when they retire and instead stop spending money because they’re too scared to use that money for the purpose they’ve saved for.

This leads to impacts on health and wellbeing, and even a culture of fearing retirement leading to working years longer than they need to.

Why it’s important to find out your pension and retirement options

Meet Financial Planners Christine and Louise as they chat about how knowing what your options are could help you work less.

Working as a team

We’ve all got the retirement lifestyle that we’d like to lead in our minds, and with a good lifestyle financial adviser, it can be made a reality.

However, before you start dreaming of your ideal retirement, you need to speak to your partner. Do your goals match up? Does either of you have any debts you’ve been withholding from each other? It’s a tough conversation to have, but it’s one you need to have.

At Joslin Rhodes, we’ve found when couples work as a team; they reach their retirement goals. Take, Paul and Julie, for example.

They initially only wanted to reduce their tough working hours, rather than retire, because Paul felt he wasn’t in the strong financial position Julie was.

Fast-forward eight months and they pair have retired at 55 and 57, and haven’t thought about work at all.

Now, that’s teamwork.

How Do We Help?

This is where we come in. We spend time coaching clients through the life and money decisions they face, allowing them to properly plan their retirement, including encouraging them to think about the kind of retirement lifestyle they really want rather than simply assuming they can’t afford it.

Often, people do have enough but they have no idea how to plan so assume that stopping work means no money.

By helping people plan the retirement they want first, then doing the money bit to work out how they get it, we’re able to give people a clear plan of how their finances can be structured to fund it.

This gives people the retirement lifestyle they want and a clear plan of how they’re able to afford it, which means they can go enjoy life and do those things we’ve helped them plan for.

If you’d like help planning your retirement lifestyle get in touch on Stockton – 01642 42 45 73 or Newcastle – 0191 249 4257 and we’ll start planning your retirement.