My plans to travel the world when I retire

I have been a fully self employed blogger for just over 6 months now. I am fully embracing the freedom & challenges of self employment and if I am honest, I don't ever think I could return to an employed role. This was never a direction I expected my life to take - when I was at school and spoke with my careers advisor, self employment was never mentioned and something that I just never considered.

At High School Prom - Self Employment was never an option

Thinking towards the future, I have previously relied on my NHS pension which was automatic and I didn't need to think about it. I knew that it was a 'good' deal and liked the fact that it was easy and simply taken from my pay at the end of the month......one last thing to think about! Now that I'm self employed however, it isn't so easy and I think it's time I started thinking about my future a little more carefully.

Our Retirement Plans

Ideally, I would love for both myself and Steve to retire at aged 60. Steve works so hard in a call centre and pays quite a bit into his work pension and has done since his twenties. I am hoping this will allow him to retire at 60 and this will give us some time to travel the world together. Yes I know I am only 32 and this is 25+ years aways for me but I have already started looking at round the world cruises and planning our itinerary. I just can't help myself! Apparently, a 'round the world' cruise isn't the best way to see the world as you spend a lot of time at sea so I think we will probably take a few shorter trips seeing various destinations on our bucket list across 4-5 years. This also means that we won't spend too long away from home and our future grandchildren. 

The top 5 destinations we would like to visit in our retirement:-

*Stay in an Igloo/Ice Hotel - £1500 each

*Cruise around Hong Kong/Thailand - around £1500 each
*An African Safari - around £2000 each
*A Caribbean Cruise - around £1500 each
*Stay in a 5* Hotel in Las Vegas - around £1500 each

Total = £16,000

Now this is before we take into consideration any spending money/insurance costs and I still have another 25+ years to add to the list so I am sure it will continue to grow. 

How we will fund our grand plans

The rules around when you can claim your State Pension and how much you will receive are constantly evolving and who knows what the rules will be when I hit retirement age. To be honest, I would rather not rely on having to collect my State Pension and the amount I am likely to receive won't come close to being able to fund my grand plans. According to this Government calculator I won't receive my State Pension until 2051 when I'll be 68. Wow that seems like forever away!

I have decided to find out more about my options for saving for my future dreams whilst being self employed. I need someone with experience who will cut through all of the jargon and tell me in simple terms how much I need to pay into my pension every month to receive a lump sum that will cover the cost of my future travel plans plus hopefully a little bit every month to ensure I can lead a comfortable life. Newcastle Financial Services Limited (part of Newcastle Building Society) have created a FREE guide that cuts through the jargon and answers the following questions:-

*How to plan for your retirement
*Details on the many types of pension available to you
*How to access your pension when you retire
*Why annuities are important

You can order your FREE Pensions Guide here

I have sent away for my guide and after I've read up a little I'm going to make a no obligation appointment with a NFSL Financial Planning Manager at my local Newcastle Building Society branch to discuss my options and plans with a real life person. I am really excited to be making steps towards our future travel plans.

Giveaway

The lovely people at Newcastle Building Society have given us a £50 Paperchase Gift Card to give away. One lucky winner will be selected at random and will be able to treat themselves to lots of lovely stationery to plan for their own future. Simply enter via the rafflecopter giveaway widget below. Good luck. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post has been commissioned by Newcastle Building Society and does not constitute financial advice. All thoughts and words are my own.

Terms and Conditions
UK entries only
Over 18's over
One winner will be chosen at random and informed via email within 7 days of the giveaway closing. They have 28 days to reply and claim their prize.
Prize will be posted to a UK address only.
Prize - a Paperchase gift card to the value of £50
Entrant's email addresses may be added to the Newcastle Building Society Marketing database from which you can opt out at any time. Details will not be passed onto any third parties. 
Competition closes at midnight on 10th April 2016

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