How sad is that? Millions of hard working, creative people heading towards retirement with the prospect of having to work forever. Are you one of them?
This not scaremongering from a pension provider but hard fact from The Office of National Statistics Feb 2018.
Statistics for small business owners are not available but I would expect them to be much the same.
Contrast that with the improving pension prospects for the employed. They are now automatically enrolled in a pension scheme by law with total contributions of 8% of pay by April 2019.
Did you really decide to start your own business expecting to finish up worse off in retirement than the average employee?
I don’t expect or recommend this problem to be solved by compulsion so it will need a significant change in attitude. Looking after your future should be at the top of your list of objectives. “My business will be my pension” is pie in the sky thinking unless you really do expect to work forever.
Larger businesses are providing pensions for their employees whether or not they are making profits and you should be doing the same. A reasonable level of pension contribution should be a business overhead not something which comes out of profits.
If so many are doing nothing I suspect most of the rest are not doing enough.
Don’t put it off. Every day counts.
You don’t need to pay fat fees to a financial adviser to get started. The on-line platforms such as Hargreaves Lansdown are cost effective and very user friendly. Just log in, go to Pensions and then SIPP – all the information you need is there. If you are not confident that you will make the right decisions on your own and would like some guidance just phone me, Richard, on 07770 757122, or get in touch.
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PS. My new book “Fearless Retirement” is due to be published in the Autumn. I will have a limited number of complimentary copies for my blog readers – look out for a registration form in a future blog.
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