How do I know if I’ve got enough money to retire early?

This is the million dollar question and to some extent depends on what you want to do in retirement.

For example, you might want to spend more time travelling and seeing the sights.

There are a number of things you need to think about to help answer this question.

When can I access my pension?

To start with it is important to know that you can access your pension usually from age 55 but it might not be the right choice for you depending on how much money you have.

How much do you have in your personal or company pensions? You need to know this so you can check if you're on the right track to get to where you want to be.

You can contact your pension provider for an illustration. You'll need to give them a rough idea of when you want to retire. But you're not held to this date in any way. It'll just help them work out how much money you might have in your pension by the time you need it.

Remember if you have more than one pension you will need to get an illustration for all of them.

Things to think about...

Your State Pension - it’s easy to find out how much you’ll get from your State Pension and when you’ll start getting it. You can find this out by visiting here.

Have you got any savings or investments? It’s a good idea to add together any savings you have to see how much money you have outside your pension.

Your home - perhaps you’ve been thinking about downsizing in retirement? If so, it might be worth getting a rough value of your home (it’s easy to look at prices in your street and area online).

Lost pensions - many of us have had several jobs and may have lost track of company pensions as the years went on. The Government have a free pensions tracking service, so if you aren’t sure, it is worth getting in touch.

Deciding when to retire can be difficult

You need to ensure you have the full picture to get where you need to be. So, now we’ve looked at some of the key things to see ‘how much money you will have’, the next step is to consider what you’ll actually need.

These two things may sound similar but they probably aren’t the same.

You can learn more about this in our article 'How much will I need in retirement?'

Share the article

All Pensions and Retirement Guides

Our articles, guides and videos can help you learn more about saving in a pension and retirement planning.

Cashing in your pension

Your pension, your freedom. What the changes mean for you.

Over 55 and looking to take your pension?

Are you thinking about taking money from your pension now? Or perhaps you’re a few years away, but just want to know when would be the best time to take your money? An adviser can help.

If you don't already have an adviser, we can help. You can book a no-obligation financial review with one of our advisers. We offer a restricted advice service.

Arrange a chat with us

"Prudential" is a trading name of Prudential Distribution Limited. Prudential Distribution Limited is registered in Scotland. Registered Office at 5 Central Way, Kildean Business Park, Stirling, FK8 1FT. Registered number SC212640. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Prudential Distribution Limited is part of the same corporate group as the Prudential Assurance Company Limited. The Prudential Assurance Company Limited and Prudential Distribution Limited are direct/indirect subsidiaries of M&G plc which is a holding company registered in England and Wales with registered number 11444019 and registered office at 10 Fenchurch Avenue, London EC3M 5AG, some of whose subsidiaries are authorised and regulated, as applicable, by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. These companies are not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America or Prudential plc, an international group incorporated in the United Kingdom.