In the later stages of the development of our retirement planning calculator, we put its unique optimisation features through its paces. We ran a wide variety of different scenarios. We simulated individuals and couples of different ages, financial positions, and

It can be uncomfortable or even distressing to make a financial plan that takes death into account. We don’t like to think that someone we care about may die before we do. However when couples plan their future finances, it’s prudent to

As I was taking a walk the other day, I got to thinking about a commonly used analogy when discussing financial planning. The idea is that a good financial plan is like a roadmap, which you need to follow towards

Received wisdom states that we should all plan to retire much later. This is to compensate for declining pension returns. On the face of it, this sounds eminently sensible. As an idea for our cash flow plan, it’s fine. However

In an earlier post I wrote about the so-called 4% rule. This tries to determine the safe annual level of withdrawal from a retirement fund. My conclusion was that it’s okay as a rough-and-ready rule of thumb. But that there

Back in the 90’s, a US financial planner named William Bengen put forward an amazingly simple rule of thumb. It aimed to determine what percentage of a retirement fund can be safely withdrawn each year. He proposed that it’s safe

Some of us are brought up to believe that leaving a big legacy to our children is a Good Thing. After all, doesn’t it demonstrate how financially successful we’ve been during our lives? Well, perhaps, provided we haven’t had to

How much should I save towards my retirement? That’s the question that most people confront at some point in their lives. But is it the right question? It implies that my financial plan should be to set myself a savings

Defined benefit pensions are becoming ever rarer, with the exception of the state pension. Most people are going to need to derive some of their retirement income from drawing down from accumulated savings. This means there are two questions we

My name is Nick May. I have a background in IT. I’ve architected and developed mission-critical systems for big companies. Much of my career has been with financial applications, like banking, accountancy, insurance and trading. Until a few years ago,