How do you use the information in your statement to plan ahead?

1. Work out how much you might get at retirement
2. Work out how much you’ll need in the future
   Are these numbers similar or is there a gap?
3. Look at closing the gap:
   • can you save more?
   • can you use your savings differently?
4. Make sure you keep your money safe

Let’s start planning...

Working out how much you might get at retirement

The projection in your statement gives you an idea of what you might get from your SEI pension account at your Target Retirement Age, but it's likely you’ll have other sources of income too.

Make sure you consider your other pensions from previous employers and your state pension.

• Get an up to date state pension forecast from www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
• Find out what you might get from other pensions by looking at your latest annual benefit statement or a leaver’s statement. If you think you have a pension in a scheme that you’ve since lost touch with, you can try to track it down using the pension tracing service: www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details

Do you have any other savings that you might use in retirement? Once you’ve added all these together, you’ll have a better idea of your potential retirement income.

Working out how much you’ll need in the future

You’ll need to consider how much money you’ll need each year to live comfortably in retirement. The Retirement Living Standards set out by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) show what kind of lifestyle you might have based on different income levels.

These are three different post-tax retirement income levels that have been created by the PLSA – minimum, moderate and comfortable. The website www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk explains the kind of lifestyle each income level supports and the assumptions used to calculate this. For example, mortgage, rent or social care costs may need to be added, depending on your circumstances.

You can work out how much you might need in retirement by using our budget planner.

Once you know how much you’ll need in retirement and how much you’re likely to get, you can compare the two figures. If you’ll need more than you’re expecting to get from your current savings, you’ll need to see if you can close that gap.

Look at closing the gap – can you save more?

Consider whether you can increase your savings so that your money has more time to grow between now and when you retire. You could:

• Increase your regular contributions
• Make a one-off contribution
• Adjust your investment strategy

If you’re not currently working for an employer in the SEI Master Trust, you won’t be able to pay more into your SEI pension account. You’ll need to increase your contributions to your current employer’s pension scheme or set up a personal pension. You can model how changing your contributions or changing your investments might increase your income from your SEI account by using the Pension Planner at portal.hartlinkonline.co.uk/atlasmastertrust.

Look at closing the gap – can you use your savings differently?

There are several ways to use your pension account when you retire. Your benefit statement shows you what you might get if you buy an annuity – an income for life from an insurer. But you can take all your account as cash, or keep it invested and draw an income from it over your retirement.

Use the Pension Planner on your online account to set your ‘Target Pension’ and see if you are on track to achieve this. The Planner will let you know how much extra you would need to contribute for a range of retirement ages, if you aren’t projected to have enough.

You could also look at adjusting your Target Retirement Age to allow more time for saving and growth. Check that your Target Retirement Age in your online account matches when you plan to retire, and check your investments align with those plans too.

Make sure you keep your money safe

Be vigilant to help protect yourself from pension scams. Below are some tips that will help you spot a scam.

• Cold calling about pensions is banned - A genuine financial adviser will never contact you out of the blue about your pension, this includes via email and text messages.
• All UK financial advisers should be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) - Even if you approach a financial adviser directly, you should still check their credentials. You can use the financial adviser register at www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register to check they are registered and authorised to advise you about pension transfer if that’s what you’re thinking about.
• Know your pension - Take time to understand your pension and the rules associated with it so you won’t be caught out.
• No investment is guaranteed - All investments come with an element of risk. If you’re being offered guaranteed high returns on your pension investment, this is very likely to be a scam.
• Take your time - Don’t feel rushed or pressured into making a decision.

Find out more information on the FCA’s website at www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart.

Report a scam to the FCA by contacting their Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768 or by using the reporting form at www.fca.org.uk/consumers/report-scam