We're living longer than we used to, meaning that most of us can look forward to around at least 20 years of retirement. But what does retirement look like to you? Rather than stopping work completely, it might mean working part-time, volunteering, or even starting up your own business!

In this month's Pension Confident Podcast, we look at visualising your ideal retirement with the financial and lifestyle steps you can take to make it a reality. Philippa Lamb takes the helm as usual and is joined by:

• Financial Journalist and Founder of Much More With Less; Faith Archer
• Head of Media Relations at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA); Mark Smith
• PensionBee's Senior Engagement Manager; Priyal Kanabar

Episode breakdown:

01:23 Guests' retirement ambitions 03:10 Customer retirement ambitions 05:20 Factors to consider when deciding on retirement 09:38 The Retirement Living Standards 14:39 The different types of pensions 17:49 What happens in a Pension Wise appointment? 19:54 How can you take your pension? 25:20 What can be improved in the UK pension system?

*Just a note to say that in this episode we mention the State Pension, but don't clarify how much that is. The current full State Pension is £185.15 per week or £9,627.80 per year. This will rise to £203.85 per week or £10,600 per year in April 2023 as confirmed by the Chancellor's Autumn Statement. The State Pension age is currently 66, but will rise to 67 by 2028.

We also mention that the earliest you can take money out of most private and workplace pensions is currently from age 55, but this will rise to 57 by 2028.

For more information, please visit Pensions Explained on our website.

Further reading:

For more tips on achieving your dream retirement, check out our latest articles on The Buzz.

• What makes a happy retirement?
• Are you ready for the 100 year life?
• How much income do you need in retirement?
• What to do in retirement
• Does the State Pension rise with inflation?
• Can you live off the State Pension?

Other useful resources:

• Pension calculator
• Drawdown explained
• What are the pros and cons of drawdown?
• Pension Academy video series
• PLSA's Retirement Living Standards
• PLSA's 'Five steps to better pensions'
• Government's State Pension page
• Book a Pension Wise appointment

Catch up on the latest news, read our episode transcripts or watch on YouTube:

• The Pension Confident Podcast
• The Pension Confident Podcast on YouTube

Follow @PensionBee on X, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Threads and LinkedIn.

Follow Faith at @MuchMoreWithLess on X, LinkedIn and Facebook and Mark on LinkedIn.

Enjoying the podcast? Then don't forget to give us a review! As always, we'd love to hear your stories and feedback. Send us an email:

[email protected]