Paul passes on his expert views with regard to making your money work harder in your retirement:
Your commutation lands and for a few weeks you feel like the cat that has got the cream. But it’s so important to have a plan. Work out what commitments you may have, big events coming up and what sort of contingency fund you may need in case of an emergency.
It’s so tempting to go and splash out on a new car or a holiday and why not? You deserve it. But just bear in mind some of the things you may want to save up for – helping a family member get on the property ladder, a wedding, university fees, even long term care of elderly relatives.
I don’t want to sound like a killjoy, but they’re things you need to consider. Police Mutual has a commutation planner to help you plan everything out.
Investments
They’re a great way of getting more out of your money, especially if your financial plan shows that you’re going to need a little extra over the coming years.
You have to decide how long you wish to invest your money for and the level of risk you’re willing to take. The longer the investment term and the higher the risk will usually result in the greater the potential returns.
Spreading the risk across different options is a good idea, so you’re not putting all your eggs into one basket. For example, there are a number of investment options you can choose from with different risks attached to them – cash, bonds, equities and properties. It’s called ‘balancing’ – so that funds that perform well can be balanced against any that don’t do as well.
How you allocate your money is down to you, your goals, your attitude to risk and how long you’re prepared to invest for. You’ll also need to consider how inflation can eat into the real value of your money. If you do nothing or little with your money, it won’t be worth so much in the future – that’s why it’s so important to get your money working harder for you as soon as possible.
Police Mutual has a range of products that can help, including a savings plan and an Independent Financial Advice service. I would definitely recommend checking them out.
Paul
P.S. Make sure you’re going through the proper leavers process by now and you’ve notified all the relevant channels. And I also want you to check out couple of pages regarding commutation and understanding investments that you may find helpful.
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