At what age did you (or will you) start actively planning for your retirement?

The answer is now 36 years old according to research undertaken by a major pension provider. By contrast, the starting age for today’s retirees averaged 49. Over half of that group now wishes that they had begun planning earlier.

There are some good arguments for why a retirement focus now begins in the mid-30s. National Statistics data show that the average age of buying a first home and getting married are now both around 34, so at 36 life should have gained a settled pattern for many. Nearly two thirds of respondents were confident in their abilities to make financial decisions by age 36.

Both today’s retirees and the 36-year-olds have experienced the new world of automatic enrolment into workplace pensions. When today’s 36-year-olds retire, those pensions will be a much greater proportion of retirement benefits than they are today. Apart from the longer timeframe, auto-enrolment will also become more significant because of new legislation which paves the way for:

• an 8% minimum contribution level to cover all earnings (currently it’s up to a maximum of £50,270 and excludes the first £6,240); and
• the auto-enrolment minimum age to drop from 22 to 18.

The lower enrolment age of 18 matters because the sooner pension contributions begin, the better. A contribution made at 18 will enjoy about half a century of investment returns before it starts to be drawn on.

The truth is that whatever your age, your retirement planning should be a primary focus.