Live long and prosper!

Have you thought about the type of lifestyle you would like in retirement? For many of those currently in work, retirement feels a long way off – but to be comfortable in our golden years, it’s important to start saving early.

A longer life

Long-term demographic trends are favourable. We are in general living longer and, as long as we remain healthy, later life can be enjoyed to the full. However, finances are a factor. Whether we spend our later years in comfort is largely dependent on us and our actions in advance.

We should all think about preparing for a longer retirement. Although we are inevitably working later in life, current UK ‘pension freedoms’ mean that some pensions can be accessed from the age of 55, whether one continues working or not. Pension income could supplement a wage or be a major source of income in retirement. Whichever, its importance in later life is likely to be considerable.

A longer income

The downside of living longer is that the money, which we save up from our working career, needs to last longer. Gone are the days of gold-plated, defined benefit schemes and annuity rates of over 10%. With interest rates so low, bond yields and, in turn, annuity rates are also low. In this environment, your pension fund in retirement needs to be bigger than ever.

The logical imperative is to save more. Most of us would like to maintain the standard of living that we have grown accustomed to. But still, some are sleepwalking into a lower standard of living by not putting enough aside. Those who come to realise this often do so too late to do much about it. The key is to start to save at a young age and to put sufficient sums away. Easier said than done, of course, when there are so many competing claims on our money.

Invest long-term and prosper slowly

The good news for the young is that the longer one is invested, the greater chance one has to build up a substantial sum of money to fund retirement. The upward bias of markets over the long-term, the benefit of reinvested dividends and the magic of compounding – are key factors required to drive returns. Historically, equities have been one of the best assets for maximising returns over the long run, although they can be more volatile than bonds. Investing over the long-term can smooth out the corrections in equity prices that will occur during the period you are building up funds for retirement.

The UK currently has tax efficient schemes to facilitate and encourage pension saving. There are a number of alternatives, but one way to take advantage of tax benefits on offer as well as the ability to select and allocate all assets, is through a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) plan. Investments in a SIPP can grow free of capital gains and income tax and, when paying into a SIPP, government tax relief is received. Though remember that, in most cases, access to your SIPP is only available from the age of 55. Also, the value of any tax benefit depends on individual 3ircumstances and tax rules may change in the future.

Contrariwise

A fund with a contrarian approach could be a useful component of a diversified pension portfolio. This style does not chase the investment fads of the moment or become swayed by current themes but aims to provide investors with above-average returns over the longer term. It demands patience, recognising that some stocks, while representing good value, can stay ‘unloved’ or shunned by the market for some time. Good companies can go out of fashion, but they often remain good companies with the potential for share prices to recover.

Being an independent, closed-ended fund allows the investment managers at The Scottish to select companies where they have a high conviction and a view to long-term payback – appropriate for long-term investors. The Scottish has one of the lowest ongoing charges figures within the AIC Global sector which is important as seemingly small differences can have a surprising impact on investors’ returns over the long-term.

Similarly, dividends have historically accounted for a significant portion of total returns. According to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) figures, The Scottish has one of the highest dividend yields in its peer group. The AIC have also named the trust a ‘Dividend Hero’ as it has grown the regular dividend for the past 35 years. However, it should be remembered that dividends are not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise.

By consistently investing from a young age – and taking a long-term approach – you are more likely to build your pension fund to a substantial level, helping to ensure a happy and fulfilling retirement.

Please remember that past performance may not be repeated and is not a guide for future performance. The value of shares and the income from them can go down as well as up as a result of market and currency fluctuations. You may not get back the amount you invest.

Please note that SIT Savings Ltd is not authorised to provide advice to individual investors and nothing in this article should be considered to be or relied upon as constituting investment advice. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment, you should contact your financial advisor.