Hi all, hoping to get a second opinion on retire plans and advice on next steps. I've just turned 55, married and planning to retire age 57. No debt other than negligible mortgage, £810k in private pension + ~£60k in ISAs. Contributing ~£28k/yr into the pension. In addition I've a 16k/year DB pension from age 60. My wife and I are about the same age and both qualify for full state pension. We want to budget for a "comfortable" lifestyle as per the retirement living standards (£5,050 net / month), but don't expect to need that much. My current income allows for other investments on top of pension / ISA contributions.
I've used various retirement calculators, my favourite being the Scottish Widows one that appears to be the most comprehensive, covering all of the above information. My assumption is that I will use private pension + ISAs to bridge up to age 60. At all times I would take maximum advantage of UFPLS for multiple tax free withdrawals. The SW calculator shows that this should all be ok.
My questions are:
- Is this actually realistic?
- What should I be doing over the next 2 years to prepare (investments?
- What are the logistics of retirement and managing withdrawals / UFPLS
- Can I manage all this myself or is it worthwhile paying a financial planner / advisor (they all seem to want to take an annual % cut to actively manage all this for me)
Thanks in advance. I can't help but feel underprepared for all of this and a bit naive in terms of investment strategies. Note, we are both cautious from a financial risk perspective.