Focus on plans, not retirement
An international HSBC study, The Future of Retirement, in 2011 showed that those with financial plans accumulated nearly 250% more retirement savings than those without a financial plan in place. Furthermore, nearly 44% of those who have a financial plan in place save more money each year for retirement.
Research by David Blanchett and Paul Kaplan of Morningstar, in their article “Alpha, Beta and now…Gamma”, has attempted to quantify into real numbers the value that financial advisers can provide. Their research shows that advisers help individuals generate roughly 1.82% excess return each year, creating roughly 29% higher retirement income wealth. This means even if an adviser is charging a 1% fee a year for the management of assets, the financial advice still has a huge impact on generating additional wealth.
A pension is a long-term investment the fund value may fluctuate and can go down. Your eventual income may depend upon the size of the fund at retirement, future interest rates and tax legislation.