What if the five years before you retire matter more than the thirty years you spent saving?

Most people coast into retirement without checking what their pension is actually invested in. Meanwhile, their provider is quietly shifting their money into slower funds, lost pots are sitting forgotten, and National Insurance gaps are eating into their State Pension — all fixable problems, but only if you catch them in time.

In this episode, I walk you through the five things you need to sort before you stop working: the default fund trap that costs you 2.3% a year in lost growth, how to check and fill your National Insurance record, tracing lost pension pots worth an average of £13,620, making the most of late contributions through tax relief, and building a withdrawal plan so you don't drain your pot decades too early.

With over 25 years advising individuals and major organisations on pensions and retirement at firms including PwC, EY, Aon and KPMG, I've seen how this short window makes or breaks even the best savers.

Watch this episode in full on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@retirementandmoney

How much is the Iran conflict actually costing you in retirement right now?

Since the strikes on Iran, oil has surged past $100 a barrel, energy and food prices are climbing fast, and global markets have dipped 5-6%. For anyone in pension drawdown, that's a dangerous double hit — your living costs are rising at the same time your pot is shrinking. The expected Bank of England rate cut has been shelved entirely.

In this episode, I break down exactly how the conflict hits your daily budget, your pension pot, and the interest rate outlook. I cover the £700 to £1,100 in extra annual costs heading towards UK pensioners, why withdrawing from your pot during a dip locks in permanent losses, how to build a cash buffer that protects you, and the unclaimed benefits — including Pension Credit — that 850,000 eligible pensioners are still missing out on.

With over 25 years advising individuals and major organisations on pensions and retirement at firms including PwC, EY, Aon and KPMG, I've seen how geopolitical shocks cause people to make permanent decisions based on temporary problems.

Watch this episode in full on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@retirementandmoney

Is playing it safe with your pension actually the riskiest thing you can do?

Most retirees move their pension into cash and bonds thinking they're protecting themselves. But with cash barely beating inflation and charges quietly eating away at your pot, that cautious approach could cost you tens of thousands over a 30-year retirement — and most people never even notice.

In this episode, I break down how risk works completely differently once you start withdrawing, why lifestyling silently drags your returns by over 2% a year, and how the bucket strategy lets you stay invested without losing sleep. I also cover the annual check-up that keeps your pension on track at every stage of retirement.

With over 25 years advising individuals and major organisations on pensions and retirement at firms including PwC, EY, Aon and KPMG, I've seen how overly cautious decisions quietly destroy pension pots — and how to get the balance right.

Watch this episode in full on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@retirementandmoney

Beware of rubbish financial advisors — the difference between good advice and bad often comes down to how they talk to you in the first meeting.The FCA found that 45% of people going into drawdown did so without any regulated advice at all. But what worries me more is that many who do get advice have no idea whether it's any good. Most people assume their advisor is fine because they seem professional, have qualifications, and work from a nice office. The reality is that the conversation test — what your advisor asks about first — reveals everything about their true priorities. If they ask about your money before they ask about your life, that tells you they're focused on fees, not on planning.

Can you actually retire early with a £500,000 pension pot? The answer depends entirely on how you structure your withdrawals across the three phases of retirement - and most people get this completely wrong.This video walks through what we call a strategic audit - which is just a fancy way of saying a proper review of how your money needs to work from age 60 right through to your 90s. I break down the go-go, slow-go, and no-go years and show you exactly what your withdrawals could look like in each phase

Could the wrong investment pathway cost you thousands of pounds over ten years?Investment pathways were designed to help people entering drawdown without financial advice. But the FCA's solution has created a new problem - massive charge variations between providers that can destroy your retirement income. In this video, I explain exactly how investment pathways work, the four options you're offered, the charge trap that catches people out, and how to decide if they're right for you.

Why do some people hate retirement even when they've got plenty of money? Nearly half of all retirees say spending their own savings gives them anxiety — and research shows people with guaranteed income spend twice as much as those sitting on the same pot.This video explores the psychological shift from accumulation to decumulation — the spending phase where you turn your pot into income. Most people spend 30 or 40 years learning how to save, but nobody teaches you how to spend. The result? Retirement anxiety, identity loss, and the spending freeze that stops you from enjoying the life you worked so hard for.

Equity release to fund retirement - how compound interest turns a £60,000 loan into £201,000 and what to do instead.If you're property-rich but pension-poor, equity release looks like an obvious solution. But most people don't understand how rolled-up compound interest works on a lifetime mortgage until they see the real numbers. In this video, I break down the actual cost of equity release over 10 and 20 years using current 2026 rates, show you when it genuinely makes sense, and walk through three alternatives - pension drawdown, downsizing, and retirement interest-only mortgages - that could save your family tens of thousands of pounds.

Pension strategy rethinking — 6 forces that have changed the rules and what to do about them.FCA data shows £70.9 billion was pulled from pensions in a single year, with 45% of people making major withdrawal decisions without financial advice. The inheritance tax changes from April 2027, frozen Personal Allowances squeezing pensioners through fiscal drag, the breakdown of the traditional 60/40 portfolio, and unsustainable withdrawal rates are all converging at the same time. This video breaks down exactly what has changed, why your old strategy may no longer work, and the practical steps to protect your retirement income.

Retiring at 60 with £500,000 — can your pension pot actually last from 60 to 95? Here's the 3-phase withdrawal strategy that could make it work.Most people assume half a million pounds is more than enough to retire on. But retiring at 60 means funding a 7-year gap before State Pension kicks in at 67 — and that gap alone could cost you £210,000. In this video, I perform a full strategic audit of a £500,000 pension pot, showing you exactly how withdrawals could work across the go-go, slow-go, and no-go phases of retirement, the tax reality at each stage, and the risks that could derail even the best plan.