It certainly seems that many individuals that are reaching their 50’s are starting to get anxious about their retirement. It is estimated that around a third of all retirement enquiries at Citizens Advice are from this age group. One of the most popular issues is the perceived short fall in one’s nest egg and the worry that they will not have enough time to increase their pot before they retire. However, many claim that they have other conflicting priorities such as existing debts or wanting to support children through their education. These will obviously have an impact on one’s ability to save.

So lets tackle a few of the issues here, perhaps you may find that things aren’t so bad. Firstly, although the basic rate of interest may be low at the moment, you can still get deals paying you upwards of 3%. Savings will be one of the most important methods through which you can upgrade your pot. Not to mention with the new ISA rules kicking in on the 6th of October for over 50’s means that you can get even more interest for your savings. The important thing to do is shop around and make sure that you are getting the best deal on your hard earned cash.

Now although there is no getting away from the low interest rates, if you still have debts to pay off, like a mortgage, there has not been a better time to get ahead and repay as much as you can. With interest rates at a mere 0.5% monthly repayments have to gone down considerably for many.

If you are worried about your pension, your first port of call should be to insure that you are entitled to a state pension. The good news is that even if you haven’t paid enough national insurance contributions, the government allows you to delay your pension until you have paid the required amount. Thereafter you will be able to get the whole amount that you are entitled to. Make sure you are aware of whether you are on course with these national insurance contributions to ensure that you will get your state pension as soon as you are entitled to it.

Finally, a useful tip when looking at your current pension pot is to get an idea of how much you would like to have tucked away before you retire and compare it to the current position. Once you know how much you have to save you can start to formulate a plan to achieve this. Although a slow and steady approach may not be feasible at this stage as you near retirement, making a conscious effort will go a long way.