Retirement rarely arrives as cleanly as people expect. The best outcomes tend to belong to people who start preparing five to ten years before they actually stop work, rather than leaving it to the final twelve months. Here are ten practical steps worth working through before you retire.

1. Get a clear picture of your State Pension

Request a State Pension forecast to see how much you are entitled to and when you can claim it. State Pension age is currently rising from 66 to 67, phased in between April 2026 and April 2028, so it is worth checking your own qualifying age rather than assuming. The full new State Pension is currently £241.30 a week (£12,547.60 a year), though what you actually receive depends on your National Insurance record, and gaps can sometimes be filled with voluntary contributions.

2. Track down old pensions

Many people build up several workplace pensions over a career and lose track of at least one. The government’s Pension Tracing Service can help you find lost pots. Consolidating them, where it genuinely makes sense to do so, can make them easier to manage and sometimes reduces charges, though it is worth checking for any valuable guarantees or exit penalties before transferring.

3. Work out your realistic retirement income

Add up what you will receive from the State Pension, workplace pensions, personal pensions, ISAs, and any other savings or investments. Compare that total to what you actually expect to spend, being honest about one-off costs such as home improvements, holidays, or helping family, rather than only budgeting for day-to-day bills.

4. Check your pension charges and fund choices

Older pensions, particularly ones opened decades ago, sometimes sit in expensive funds that have not been reviewed in years. It is worth checking what you are paying in charges and whether the underlying investments still suit your time horizon and attitude to risk as you approach retirement.

5. Think about how you’ll take your tax-free cash

Most pensions allow you to take up to 25% as a tax-free lump sum, subject to the Lump Sum Allowance of £268,275. How and when you take this, whether all at once or gradually, can materially affect your tax position in retirement, so it is worth planning deliberately rather than defaulting to the first option offered.

6. Review your annual pension contributions

The annual allowance for pension contributions is £60,000 for 2026/27, tapering down to as little as £10,000 for very high earners. There may still be scope to make meaningful contributions and benefit from tax relief in your final working years, particularly following a high-income year, or by using unused allowance carried forward from the previous three tax years.

7. Clear or plan around debt

Entering retirement with a mortgage or other significant debt changes the numbers considerably. Decide whether to pay it off before you stop working, restructure it, or factor ongoing repayments into your retirement budget.

8. Think about how you’ll draw your income

Decide broadly whether you will buy an annuity for guaranteed income, use income drawdown for flexibility, or use a mix of both. Each option has different implications for tax, flexibility, and what happens to the money if you die earlier than expected in retirement.

9. Review your will and beneficiary nominations

Pensions currently sit outside your estate for inheritance tax purposes; however this will be changing from April 2027. There are many flexible ways in which your beneficiaries can access your pension to try and limit the amount of tax payable upfront, but often only if your provider holds an up-to-date expression of wishes form. Check this alongside your will, especially if your circumstances have changed since either was last reviewed.

10. Talk through the non-financial side of retirement

The financial planning matters, but so does thinking through how you will spend your time, whether you will work part-time, and how retirement affects a partner who may still be working. These conversations are worth having before the leaving date is fixed, not after.

Bringing it together

Retirement planning touches pensions, tax, investments, and personal circumstances all at once, and getting the order of decisions right can matter as much as the decisions themselves. A financial adviser can help you pull these threads into a plan tailored to your situation.