Are you on track?

If you’re around 10 years or less from when you want to retire, it’s time to start keeping a closer watch on your savings – especially your pension. Hopefully you’re in a good place, but if not, there’s still time to get things sorted. Here are some things to think about.

When do you want to retire?

This helps you understand how long your pension might have to last for. The MMT's Normal Retirement Age (NRA) is 65, but you can take your savings any time between age 55 and 75.

Lots of us can expect to live until we’re 80, and even longer, so that could mean a lot of years to enjoy, if you get all the building blocks in place now.

Of course, the earlier you start to take your retirement savings, the less time you will have had for your account to grow.

What do you want from your retirement?

Take some time to really picture how you want your retirement to shape up. Are you likely to have paid off your mortgage? Do you hope to take regular holidays, help out family, or enjoy plenty of hobbies and meals out? Think about your general living expenses, and then all the extras, too.

A research body, called: The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has set out some really handy living standards - these show roughly how much you’ll need to save, based on how you want your retirement to look.

How much money do you have saved?

This includes your IMI pension, any other pensions you have, the State Pension plus other savings like property or ISAs. Log into Mercer Money at any time to see how much you’ve saved so far, and how much you’re likely to have when you retire.

Do you need to boost your contributions to reach your savings goal, put off retiring for a little longer, or adjust your investment choices?