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Why retirement planning matters

Saving alone often isn’t enough. Rising living costs, longer lifespans, and inflation can eat into the value of your savings over time. Investing helps your money grow faster than inflation — giving you a better chance of reaching your retirement goals.

Starting early means your investments have more time to grow through compound returns. Even modest monthly contributions can snowball into a chunky retirement pot if you begin in your 20s or 30s.

What is long-term investing?

Long-term investing generally refers to committing your money for 10 years or more, often with retirement as the goal. It’s less about picking stocks and more about staying the course and letting time do the heavy lifting.

By sticking with your investments long-term, you’ll be able to see the effects of compounding (snowballing returns).

Short-term volatility will matter less, and you’ll be less tempted to make impulsive decisions, because you have a plan in place. 

Common investment options for retirement

Pensions (State & Private)

• State Pension: In the UK, this provides a basic income from age 66+, but for most people, it’s not enough to live on alone.
  
  
• Workplace Pension: You and your employer contribute to help boost your retirement savings. You’ll get tax relief, and this is an opt-out scheme so if you meet the requirements, this will build automatically.
  
  
• Private Pension (SIPP): You invest the money yourself, and you’ll still get tax relief. Offers more control and choice over where your money is invested. Generally, employers won’t contribute outside of a workplace pension so this could be a better option to supplement your workplace pension.

Chip does not currently provide these types of investment products.

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Index funds and ETFs

Using low-cost, diversified funds that track a broad market index, can be a great vehicle for retirement investing. As the holdings of these funds are adjusted in line with market movements, it can be a great passive option, as you don’t have to choose stocks yourself. 

Other ETFs can also offer great diversity, but make sure you’re aware of the holdings, and make sure you aren’t over exposed to one particular sector or market, as any downturns might have a bigger effect on your retirement portfolio. 

Learn about different investment types and asset classes.

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Target-date retirement funds (TDF)

Target-date retirement funds automatically adjust the weighting of a portfolio as the investors retirement date approaches. Weightings shift from higher risk assets such as stocks to lower risk assets like bonds, in line with the funds roadmap. 

The main benefit of using a TDF is the professional management. The ‘glidepath’ or roadmap of the fund is carefully designed to map out an investment journey that mitigates against overexposure to risk, but also seeks to significantly outpace inflation. 

How much should you invest for retirement?

There’s no one set path for budgeting for your investments, but there are a few popular rules you can follow to keep yourself on track each month:

• The 50/30/20 rule is a simple budgeting technique that ensures each month you can take care of the essentials, like rent and bills (50%), enjoy the things you love (30%), and pay something towards your future with saving or investing (20%). Full guide here.
• The 25x rule or 4% rule helps you calculate the total amount of money you should aim to save before retiring. Multiplying your yearly retirement expenses by 25 assumes you’ll be covered, withdrawing 4% of your invested portfolio each year to sustainably cover living costs. 

These are a couple of options that can help, but everyone’s situation is unique, so it can be good to play around with calculators to help you.

A Monte-Carlo simulator allows you to input your investment asset allocation and details of your investing timeline, providing you with a series of outcomes. No portfolio path is binary, and viewing the variety of possible outcomes and their probability, can help you ground your expectations. 

Starting early will always give you the best chance of reaching your retirement goals, and in some cases you may be able to beat your retirement target.

Starting in your 20s is ideal as you can comfortably invest little and often, but it’s not too late for you if you’re starting in your 30s, or even 40s. 

Strategies for long-term investing success

Stick to the following principles, and you can build a long-term, passive investment strategy that you can have confidence in:

• Start early, stay consistent – even small amounts compound over time
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• Automate your contributions – remove friction and emotion
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• Diversify your portfolio – reduce risk and improve stability
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• Reinvest dividends or choose accumulating assets – accelerate growth through compounding
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• Avoid market timing – focus on time in the market, not timing it
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• Review and rebalance annually – adjust as life goals and risk tolerance evolve

Mistakes to avoid when investing for retirement

Keep the following in mind when investing with retirement as your goal:

• Starting too late – start as soon as you can, even small amounts can make a big difference
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• Taking on too much or too little risk – Make sure your asset allocation is right for where you are in your investment journey
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• Not accounting for inflation – remember to account for the effect of inflation when tracking your required retirement pot
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• Cashing out early (highlight penalties or lost growth) – there are tax implications for taking your pension early, and you might miss out on potential growth. Stick to your plan
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• Ignoring fees and charges – fees compound in the same way returns do, so don’t pay more than you need to

Learn more about behavioral investing and common mistakes.

Ethical and thematic investing

The investing landscape is shifting. Ethical and thematic investing is growing in popularity, as more investors week to align their portfolio with their own values. 

Our next guide will go into what ethical and thematic investing are, the different types, how they work and how to get started. 

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When investing, your capital is at risk. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than your original investment. Chip does not offer financial advice and this should not be considered as a personal recommendation. Chip does not provide tax advice and does not offer pensions.

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