Recent data suggests that younger generations are on track to save more than their parents and grandparents, despite their earnings on average being considerably lower. Part of the reason for this is time: simply put, young people have more years ahead of them than older generations until they retire, meaning that any money they put away now has more time to grow.

A recent study by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has suggested that people who have saved into defined benefit (DB) pension schemes have only a 50/50 chance of receiving the payouts they are expecting, resulting in millions missing out on the retirement income promised to them. The pressure on some employers to meet their pension obligations has increased significantly, with well-publicised cases of pension collapse including that of BHS once again highlighting the concerns surrounding the future of workplace pensions.

Retirement is undoubtedly the section of your life which receives the largest amount of planning for most people, with much of your working life spent ensuring you can live where and how you want once you’ve retired. However, as with all plans, there are always going to be aspects of your retirement which don’t end up quite how you’d expected, and a few you might not have even considered until you’ve actually given up work. Here are a few key lessons learned by those enjoying retirement already:

Retirement should be the time in your life where you’re able to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labour throughout your working life. However, simply paying into your savings or a pension for when you retire might not allow you to do this if you’re not putting enough away. But what does “enough” look like? Here are a few questions to consider to help you get started.

It will come as a surprise to nobody that retirement is one of the biggest lifestyle changes you’ll ever experience. But as your priorities shift and the free time available to you increases, what you might not be as aware of is the way in which your spending habits are likely to alter too.

With both property prices and the cost of living continuing to rise, as well as low interest rates making it difficult to save, the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ is increasingly becoming a partnership with the ‘Bank of Gran and Grandad’. If you have grandchildren, it’s only natural that you’ll want to provide for them in some way as you move towards your retirement years. But what’s the best way of supporting the younger members of your family in the long term as well as the short term?

Depending on when you purchased your house, and with house prices seeing a rise of 30% in the past decade, owning outright is becoming more difficult to achieve for some.

The Court of Appeal recently made a significant ruling on who should pay for the care that state funded residents should receive.

The state pension may not be the answer to bridging it.