Your retirement plan
It's time to start firming up your plan, looking forward to how the next phase will work for you. In this short guide we'll help you break it down into phases so that you're empowered to make the right decisions for your colourful retirement. We've put together some ideas to help get you started.

On your own, or with your partner or family, try to answer some key questions about your future which will help you to map out your key stages.
It may be useful to plan around different phases of your retirement in 5-10 year chunks starting from about 10 years to retirement through to your later years, more than 20 years from retirement.
The nearest phase should be the clearest and most well defined, but don't ignore the later phases entirely. Although things will inevitably change in the coming decades it's worth having at least a rough idea now as it could impact how you decide to access your savings.
Before you start
You'll need to have already completed two key activities:
Picture your retirement
You need to have answered some key questions about what the next phase of your life will look like. If you haven't done this yet, we'd recommend you set aside time to think this through or talk about it with your partner or family.
A few hours might be enough, but if your ideas are infinite or your situation is complex you may need to set aside a few hours over a few days. Don't rush it, but do make some decisions at least for the next decade or so.
Take stock of your money
You'll need to take stock of what your retirement finances will look like to work out when you could retire and the lifestyle you'll have.
If you haven't done this yet we'd recommend you set aside some time to gather all your documents together, get the latest values for your pensions and savings and perhaps get some guidance or advice.
This could take a few days or weeks, especially if you've forgotten any log in details for online accounts, or have missing documents you need to find.
Your plan
You may have several different pensions and savings pots set aside for retirement. You'll see that we refer to both defined contribution pension plans (or pension pots) and defined benefit pension schemes (also called DB, final salary or career average/CARE schemes) in this guide.
These types of pensions are different to each other in many ways including how you can take your retirement income, what letters or statements you might receive or what benefits might be available to your loved ones after you have died.
If you need more help in understanding the types of pension you have, you can learn more about this in Saving for retirement.
This guide gives you some things to think about at key stages but everyone's retirement will be different. We can't take into account your personal circumstances, when you're thinking of retiring or when might be the right time for you to take actions. So it's important that you seek guidance or independent advice for your own personal circumstances.
From 10 years before your retirement
- Firm up your plan >
- Keep an eye on your pensions >
- Consider getting all your pension pots into one place >
- Review how your pension pots are invested >
- State Pension >
- Accessing your pot and tax-free cash >
- Looking after your loved ones >
- Getting some guidance >
- Outstanding debt >
- Reducing your working days/hours >
- Starting a business >
From 5 years before your retirement
- Firm up your plan >
- Keep an eye on your pensions >
- Selected retirement age >
- Consider getting all your pension pots into one place >
- Investing your pension pot in the run up to retirement >
- State Pension >
- Accessing your pot and tax-free cash >
- Think about different pots of money and phases of your retirement >
- Getting some guidance >
- Getting independent personalised advice >
- Outstanding debt >
- Reducing your working days/hours >
- Starting a business >
- Other ideas >
Your transition to retirement
The first phase of your retirement
Later life planning
MoneyHelper is part of the Money and Pensions Service.
More in this section

If you're less than 10 years from retiring we've got some useful information, tools and activities so you can firm up your plan and go and have a colourful retirement.

It's time to start firming up what your retirement is going to look like and what lifestyle you can afford. We've got some hints, tips and tools to help you.

You'll need to take stock of your retirement finances to work out when you could retire and the lifestyle you'll have. Complete some activities to create your retirement budget.

Choosing when and how to take money from your pot is one of life's big decisions. Here we explain the main ways you can take an income or lump sums from your pension pot.

There may come a time when you need extra income to top up your pension or spend on something you need. Your home could be that source of income when you need it most.

As you get older your needs may change. Thinking about this in advance could help make your later years just as colourful as the decades that came before.