Pension expert: The one thing you must sort out this year

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Jan 16, 2025

Tom McPhail, a pensions expert at The Lang Cat and former Head of Policy at Hargreaves Lansdown, shares crucial insights on retirement planning. He emphasizes making pensions a priority this year, discusses calculating retirement needs, and the importance of engaging with pension plans. Tom unpacks the benefits of salary sacrifice and tax relief, and highlights the need for a diversified savings approach, including ISAs. He also navigates the complexities of choosing investment strategies and the role of state pensions in today’s changing demographic landscape.

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ADVICE

Calculate Retirement Needs

Use online pension calculators to estimate retirement needs and savings.
Revisit these calculators regularly as circumstances change.

INSIGHT

Rule of Thumb for Savings

A simple rule of thumb for retirement savings is to save half your age as a percentage of your income.
However, online calculators offer a more accurate assessment.

ADVICE

Total Retirement Savings

Aim for a total retirement savings rate of at least 10% of your income, including employer contributions.
Consider ISAs, property, or business ownership as part of your retirement strategy.

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Your pension should be your top priority this year. Tom McPhail, pensions expert at The Lang Cat and former Head of Policy at Hargreaves Lansdown, explains how to calculate what you’ll need to retire, whether you can count on a state pension, and maximise returns without extra contributions. This is what we think you need to get your pension sorted out.

Our previous episode with Tom is called ' Will you be hit by the pensions crisis?' listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6gJm3v9d9K6cEiAzcfI8Z9?si=5fae24feba054ca3

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