Category
Retirement Planning
Making a finite pot last a potentially indefinite retirement, under UK pension access rules and tax brackets.
UK retirement planning is less about hitting a magic number and more about answering three questions: how big the pot needs to be, when you can actually touch it, and what you draw down each year so it lasts. These articles work through each one for a British reader.
The headline pieces: Safe Withdrawal Rate UK covers what the 4% rule looks like once you adjust for UK gilts, inflation, and a longer state-pension wait. Annuity vs Drawdown UK compares the two big income mechanisms post-55. LISA vs SIPP breaks down where the Lifetime ISA genuinely wins (a smaller set of cases than the FCA marketing suggests). The ISA-to-pension bridge covers retiring before the pension access age, which is the part US-focused FIRE content ignores.
13 articles
Showing 1-10
What Are Qualifying Earnings? UK Pension Explained
Your '8% workplace pension' is quietly less than 8%. The mechanism is legal, the gap compounds, and there is exactly one question to ask before your next job offer.
Why Bonds for De-Risking? An Honest UK Answer
Bonds dropped 20% in 2022 and a money market fund quietly did the same job for two years afterwards. So why is the textbook still 60/40? The honest UK answer near retirement.
LISA vs SIPP: When the Lifetime ISA Wins
Every UK forum tells basic rate taxpayers to use a SIPP. The maths the forums skip says otherwise for a specific group of savers, and the LISA quietly wins by thousands.
Why the Triple Lock Is Unsustainable
Every senior UK politician knows the triple lock cannot continue. None will say so first. The maths breaks before 2050. The eventual fix lands on whoever loses an election then.
UK Pension Drawdown: The Mistakes That Cost £50k+
Most UK retirees pull one lever on retirement day and cost themselves £50k. Drawdown has four levers. Pull them in the wrong order and the pot lasts a decade less.
Annuity vs Drawdown UK: Which Is Right for You?
A 65-year-old can now buy a 6.5% income for life. After a decade of rotten annuity rates, the maths changed and almost no UK retiree noticed.
SIPP vs Workplace Pension: Which Is Better?
A SIPP has better funds and lower fees than your workplace pension. So why is it the second account to feed, not the first? The order matters more than the choice between them.
State Pension Forecast UK: How to Check Yours
Missing NI years are quietly costing thousands of UK workers retirement income forever. A two-minute gov.uk check could be the highest-return move you ever make in your fifties.
Safe Withdrawal Rate UK: Why the 4% Rule Falls Short
The 4% rule was built on US data in 1994. Pfau's Monte Carlos say today's UK retiree should use a smaller number. On a £500k pot, the gap is a holiday a year, forever.
ISA-to-Pension Bridge: Retire Before 57 in the UK
You hit your FI number at 45 and your pension is locked until 57. Twelve years to fund without touching the pot. The wrapper most UK FIRE plans skip entirely.