Retirement planning is the discipline of turning what you have saved into an income that lasts as long as you do. It is not about building the pensions themselves (that is pension advice) but about deciding, once you stop earning, how much you can safely spend, which pots to draw first, and how to make finite savings outlive you.
What retirement planning actually covers
By the time you reach retirement you may hold several pots that behave very differently for tax: defined contribution pensions, perhaps a final-salary scheme, ISAs, and cash. Retirement planning treats them as one machine. The question it answers is not “how big is my pot?” but “what reliable, inflation-proof income can this produce for thirty or more years, and will it still pay out when I am ninety?”
That means anchoring the plan to a real number. The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s Retirement Living Standards put a single person’s moderate lifestyle at roughly £31,300 a year and a comfortable one at about £43,100. The full new State Pension, around £12,000 a year, is the guaranteed, index-linked foundation; your savings fill the gap above it.
What your savings must provide above the State Pension (single person, 2026)
| Target lifestyle | Total income | From the State Pension | Left for your savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moderate | ~£31,300 | ~£12,000 | ~£19,300 a year |
| Comfortable | ~£43,100 | ~£12,000 | ~£31,100 a year |
Getting the withdrawal order right
Two people with identical savings can end up thousands of pounds apart each year simply because of the order in which they draw. Pension income is taxable; ISA withdrawals are not; and up to 25% of a defined contribution pension is tax-free. Sequencing those sources, using your personal allowance and basic-rate band each year, taking tax-free cash in stages, and topping up from ISAs to avoid higher-rate tax, is the core craft of income planning.
Underpinning it all is cash-flow modelling: a year-by-year projection of income, spending, tax and growth that shows whether your money survives a long retirement, and a bad one. The sharpest danger is sequence-of-returns risk: a market fall in your first few years does lasting damage, because you are selling investments to live on just as prices drop. A cash buffer and a willingness to trim withdrawals in a downturn keep a plan intact.
A guaranteed income (annuity)
- A set income for life, whatever markets do
- Removes investment and longevity risk
- Cannot usually be changed once bought
- May not keep pace with inflation
A flexible income (drawdown)
- You stay invested and control withdrawals
- Anything left can pass to your family
- Income can flex as life changes
- You carry the investment risk yourself
Most retirees end up somewhere in between, securing essential spending with an annuity or a final-salary pension, then using drawdown for the discretionary layer on top. Our retirement guides work through that trade-off in depth.
Who needs it, and who doesn’t
You probably don’t need a full retirement plan if your income is already largely guaranteed: a generous final-salary pension plus the State Pension that comfortably covers your spending leaves little to model. And if you are still years from stopping work, your priority is building the pots, not drawing them.
It earns its keep when you hold a meaningful defined contribution pot and real choices to make: when to stop, how to bridge the years before the State Pension starts at 66 or 67, and how to draw without paying more tax than you must. If you have a defined benefit pension worth more than £30,000 you may give up, advice is legally required first, a decision that belongs with pension advice, not income planning.
What it costs
Retirement planning is paid for as advice, not a product. Expect an initial fee for building the plan, often 1%–3% of the assets involved, or a fixed fee of a few thousand pounds, and if you want it managed and reviewed each year, an ongoing charge of typically 0.5%–1% a year. On a £400,000 pot that 0.75% is £3,000 a year, so weigh it against the cash-flow model and withdrawal strategy it buys.
Free to you
Vetted Wealth is an introducer, not an adviser. Matching you with a vetted, FCA-regulated retirement specialist is free, adviser firms pay us. Any fee is for the advice itself, agreed with the adviser before work begins.
How we vet the advisers we introduce
Every adviser we introduce is authorised under the Financial Conduct Authority, checked against the FCA register, and holds the qualifications and clean regulatory record you would expect of someone handling a lifetime’s savings. We prioritise advisers with real retirement-income experience, the drawdown, annuity and cash-flow work this service turns on. Whether you are in Devon or Cornwall, the introduction is free and carries no obligation. Investments can fall as well as rise; this is information, not personal advice.
Key takeaways
- It is about the income you retire on, turning pensions, ISAs and the State Pension into a lifetime income.
- Anchor it to a real target: roughly £31,300 (moderate) or £43,100 (comfortable) a year for a single person, above a ~£12,000 State Pension.
- The order you draw from pensions, tax-free cash and ISAs can save thousands in tax.
- Cash-flow modelling and a cash buffer defend against sequence-of-returns risk.
- Building the pensions themselves is a different job, see pension advice. Matching is free.
Where we operate
Vetted Wealth is live across Devon and Cornwall, with further counties opening through 2026. Choose your county to see the towns we cover and the advisers we have vetted there.
Most people start on their county page and then pick their town. If you would rather skip that, use the form on this page, tell us where you are and we will match you with a vetted retirement planning specialist near you.
Popular towns
Learn more before you speak to anyone
Our Knowledge library is free, has nothing to sell you, and is written to be the clearest explanation of each topic on the UK web.
Speak to a vetted retirement planning specialist
This page is information, not personal advice. When you are ready, we will introduce you to an independently vetted, FCA-regulated adviser, free, and with no obligation. Investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invest.