Life gets better with age

We strongly believe that retirement isn't the end of something, it's the beginning of something new – your Second Life. At Standard Life, we want your Second Life to be a journey filled with excitement and opportunity. That is why we have created this hub, to provide you with all of the necessary tools, information and guides to ensure you that life really can get better with age.

Watch helpful videos

We have several engaging videos, where you can hear from recent retirees on how they have been able to navigate their own retirement journeys so far.

Go to videos

Explore the tools

You can find some tips and tools that will give you an easy-to-follow guide to retirement planning. Here you'll find answers to questions like: "How much money do I need to retire?" and "Do I need a pension top up?"

Go to tools

Watch our Retirement Chats videos

Over the last year, we spent a lot of time with recent retirees to get their perspectives on their journey to and through retirement.

Our retirees have spoken about their newfound sense of purpose and enjoyment in their second life in retirement.
Watch the videos below and see why, with the right level of planning, life gets better with age.

  • First day of retirement

    First day of retirement

    From defining retirement as ‘enjoying life’ to the new freedom, pace, and opportunities on offer, retirees share that the key to enjoying this new ‘golden age’ is planning.

  • A purposeful life

    A purposeful life

    Remaining active, nurturing friendships that sustain them, and seeking out ‘off-piste’ opportunities are what keeps retirees challenged and enjoying retirement.

  • Pivoting

    Pivoting

    Pivoting in totally new directions has recharged and re-energised their lives. The outcomes: a boost in confidence, getting involved in the community and developing new skills.

  • End of career guidance

    Our dedicated end-of-career guidance counsellor, Brian Mooney, is a retirement specialist, on hand to help guide you to and through your retirement journey.

 Guiding you through your Second Life with our tools

Explore more tools, as well as our handy Countdown to retirement, to help you in defining your retirement journey. From filling out a questionnaire, to calculating your ideal retirement savings, we have all of the tools you need to get you started on your Second Life journey.

  • Second Life Questionnaire

    This handy tool helps you think about your Second Life and how to achieve it.

  • Retirement Calculator

    Try the retirement planning calculator to see how much retirement income you’ll need

Countdown to retirement

Your at a glance guide to the steps you need to take at ten, five and one year from retirement.

10 years to go

  1. Start the conversation. Speak to a financial adviser, family and friends about planning for your Second Life. Use our Second Life Guide or our Second Life Questionnaire to get started.
  2. Contact your pension providers for statements so that you know the value of pension policies in retirement.
  3. Are your investments performing as you'd like? You might want to consider, spreading your investments differently. It's also worth reviewing your attitude to risk with our Risk Profiler.
  4. If you hold more than one pension policy with different providers, it might be worthwhile to combine them. Speak with your financial adviser about the potential benefits.
  5. By increasing contributions, you can avail of tax relief (subject to age related limits). Have a chat with your financial adviser for details on whether or not you should complete our pension top up form.

 

5 years or less to go

  1. Review your plan and make sure it's working for you. There's useful product and planning information in our Second Life Guide and Second Life Questionnaire.
  2. Register for My Standard Life so you can monitor your pension value online in the run up to retirement. Check that you're on track. Use this calculator from the Pensions Authority to see how much you'll need to live on in retirement, and compare it to your pension forecasts. Speak to your financial adviser if there's a gap.
  3. Speak to your financial adviser about increasing contributions to avail of tax relief (subject to age related limits).
  4. It's time to think about how you'll take your pension income. Read about your retirement product options here.
  5. Check that you're saving in the most tax efficient way and take the opportunity to get your other affairs in order by, for example, reviewing your will and the possible impact of inheritance tax.

 

1 year out or less

  1. Speak to your financial adviser and review all your plans. Do you have everything you need in place?
  2. Review all the figures. Get statements of your projected retirement fund values from your pension providers and speak to your financial adviser about whether there's anything else you need to do.
  3. Contact the Department of Social Protection to check your State pension entitlements.
  4. Remember, you can always refer back to your Second Life Guide to review product and planning information for your retirement needs.

 

Choose your next steps

  • Pension and retirement products

    Explore products to help you save for an income in retirement

  • Contact us

    View all the necessary contact details to get in touch