Most people don't plan their retirement in one sitting — it happens in stages, usually starting a decade or so before the date itself, and gathering pace as it gets closer. This guide follows the order most people actually work through it in, based on the questions we're asked most often. Nothing here is personal advice; it's the general shape of the decision, so that when you do talk to someone, you're not starting from zero.
Find out when you can actually retire
"Retirement age" isn't one date — it's several, and they don't move together. Before anything else, it's worth knowing where you stand on each.
Your State Pension age
The State Pension age is currently 66. It's in the middle of changing: it started rising to 67 in May 2026 and will finish phasing in by April 2028, with the exact date depending on your date of birth. A further rise to 68 is legislated for the late 2030s or 2040s, though the exact timing has moved before and may move again.
Because the current rise is being phased in by month of birth, the only reliable way to know your exact date is to check it directly on GOV.UK — it takes about a minute.
Your workplace or personal pension age
This is a separate date, and it usually comes earlier. Most private pensions can currently be accessed from age 55. That's changing too: from 6 April 2028, the minimum rises to 57 for most people. If you were already taking money from a pension before the change, or your scheme has a "protected" lower age, different rules may apply to you.
Early retirement
You can retire whenever you choose — the dates above are about when you can access money, not when you're allowed to stop working. If early retirement is the goal, the real question becomes what you'll live on in the gap between stopping work and reaching those ages, which is usually where the numbers get tight and worth checking properly rather than assuming.
Add up what you'll actually have
Most people underestimate how many separate pots they need to track down. It's rarely just one.
Your State Pension forecast
This tells you how much State Pension you're on track to get, and on what date. It also flags any gaps in your National Insurance record — which matters for step three. You can get your forecast free from GOV.UK in a few minutes using your Government Gateway login.
Workplace and personal pensions
If you've had more than one employer, there's a reasonable chance you've got a pension sitting somewhere you've lost track of — auto-enrolment means most jobs since 2012 came with one attached, whether you noticed or not. The government's free Pension Tracing Service will find the contact details for any scheme you've paid into, even if you don't remember the provider's name.
The State Pension isn't paid automatically — you have to claim it. You should get a letter around two months before you reach State Pension age telling you how; if you don't, or you're not sure, it's worth checking directly rather than assuming it will simply start.
Deciding how to take your pension pot
Workplace and personal pensions aren't paid out the way the State Pension is — you generally choose how to take the money, and the choice matters. The broad options are: leave it invested and draw down as needed, buy an annuity for a guaranteed income for life, take it as a series of lump sums, or some mix of all three. Each has different tax consequences and different risks, and it's a decision that's very hard to reverse once made — which is exactly the kind of thing worth talking through rather than deciding alone.
Everything else
ISAs, savings, and — for many people, the largest asset by far — the equity in their own home. This last one is often left out of the maths entirely, which is a mistake: it's frequently worth more than every pension combined, and there are now regulated ways to access some of that value without having to move (more on that in step six).
You can't sensibly decide when to retire until you know what you'll actually be living on. Skipping this step is the single most common reason retirement plans need reworking later.
Look at ways to boost it
If step two left you short of where you'd like to be, there are several honest levers — none of them magic, but all worth checking before you assume the number is fixed.
Fill gaps in your National Insurance record
You typically need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions for the full State Pension. If your forecast shows gaps — often from time spent raising children, caring for someone, or working abroad — you may be able to pay voluntary contributions to fill them, which can meaningfully increase what you get. This is time-limited, so it's worth checking sooner rather than later.
Delay taking your State Pension
You don't have to claim it the moment you're eligible. Deferring increases the amount you get later, which can suit people who are still working or have other income to draw on in the meantime.
Make the most of your workplace pension while you're still earning
Employer contributions and tax relief mean workplace pension saving is rarely matched by other options — increasing your contributions in your final working years, even modestly, tends to have an outsized effect precisely because it's the last money paid in before the pot stops growing through contributions.
Consider what your home could contribute
For homeowners, releasing some of the value tied up in your property — without having to sell or move — is a legitimate and regulated part of this conversation, not a last resort. It suits some people and not others, and it's not a decision to make without proper advice, but it belongs in the same conversation as the rest of your pension planning rather than a separate one.
Clear what you can before you stop earning
It's easy to focus entirely on income and overlook the other side of the equation: what you owe. Going into retirement with a mortgage, credit card balance or loan still running means a chunk of a now-fixed income is committed before you've spent a penny on living. Paying down what you can while you're still earning is, in effect, a guaranteed return that a lot of people forget to count.
Equity release, deferring a pension, and voluntary NI contributions all have real trade-offs that depend on your specific numbers — this is exactly the kind of thing worth a proper conversation about rather than a decision made alone.
Explore equity release →Check what extra support exists
This step gets skipped more than any other — usually because people assume means-tested support is "for other people." It's worth five minutes to check, because some of these unlock others.
- Pension Credit — tops up low retirement income, and is worth checking even if you think you won't qualify: it also acts as a gateway to help with rent, Council Tax, and NHS costs, so the knock-on value is often bigger than the payment itself.
- Attendance Allowance — for help with extra costs if you have a disability or health condition severe enough to need care, regardless of income or savings.
- Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payments — help toward heating costs, with eligibility tied to Pension Credit and other benefits.
- Council Tax Reduction and a free bus pass — both worth applying for regardless of how comfortable your finances feel; neither is means-tested in the way people expect.
GOV.UK's benefits calculator is the quickest way to check what you might be entitled to before ruling anything out.
Get your paperwork in order
This is the step that has nothing to do with income, and everything to do with protecting what you've built. It's easy to postpone indefinitely, which is exactly why it's worth doing early rather than in a hurry.
A will that's actually up to date
Roughly half of UK adults don't have one. Without a valid will, what happens to your estate is decided by fixed intestacy rules — not your wishes — and that can produce outcomes families wouldn't have chosen, particularly for blended families, unmarried couples, or anyone wanting to leave something to someone outside their immediate family.
Lasting Power of Attorney
An LPA lets someone you trust make financial or health decisions on your behalf if you're ever unable to. It can only be set up while you have mental capacity — it cannot be arranged after the fact, which is the single biggest reason to do it well before it feels necessary, not after.
Thinking ahead about care costs
Care in later life is expensive and, for many people, not fully covered by the state. Whether that's paid for from savings, pension income, or the value in your home is a decision worth thinking through in advance — again, tied closely to the equity release conversation in step three.
Wills, LPAs and trusts are handled by our sister business, with the same unhurried approach — no pressure to decide anything on the first call.
Explore wills & estate planning →Get advice before you decide anything
Everything above is general information — the sort of thing that's true for most people, most of the time. None of it is personal advice, because personal advice depends on numbers and circumstances that are specific to you: your health, your family, your other assets, your tax position, what you actually want your retirement to look like.
A whole-of-market adviser's job is to take everything from steps one to five, run the actual numbers for your situation, and tell you plainly what your realistic options are — including the ones that don't involve buying anything. Good advice sometimes means being told to do nothing yet.
That's the point where we come in. A first conversation is free, takes about 25 minutes, and comes with no obligation to proceed.
Ready to talk through your own numbers?
No obligation, no jargon — just a clear picture of where you stand.