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Should we have a mid-retirement MOT?

Journalist: Ruth Emery, Freelance

ended 14. May 2025

Looking for comments from IFAs and pension experts about whether a mid-retirement MOT is a good idea. This is something Aviva and Age UK are calling for (ie need to make sure your pension lasts as long as you do, so have a proper check of your finances half-way through retirement). Is this a good idea (and perhaps do it in addition to a midlife MOT in the run-up to retirement?), and what should be in your mid-retirement MOT? Can you do it yourself or do you need an adviser? What do you need to check, ie how much money you have, income sources, maybe it's time to buy an annuity, spending plans, what about care costs, inheritance tax, supporting adult children (and grandchildren), etc. 

Would be great to get emailed comment about the idea of a mid-retirement MOT, and then maybe a bullet point list of everything you should include in it.

This is for an article for MoneyWeek.

Thanks!

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Ross Lacey
Director & Independent Financial Adviser at Fairview Financial Management
We believe it's essential to have a yearly retirement MOT in order to make the most of this phase of life.

This is exactly what financial planners help their clients with every year as part of their ongoing service. This way, everything remains on track as things change in the wider world, and the lives of clients.

The kind of things discussed as part of the annual MOT/review are income/expenditure, tax and wider opportunities and threats specific to them. This then leads on to follow up action points to highlight what needs to be done to give clients the best possible chance of maximising their retirement. It could be for example that clients need to adjust their spending, change where they draw their income from or consider a different strategy for their investments and pensions.

Our job is to help people make the most of their money, so they can use it to live a fantastic, dignificed and independent retirement, before it's too late and they get too old to enjoy themselves.
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Scott Gallacher
Director at Rowley Turton
A mid-retirement MOT is a good idea, but I’m not sure it goes far enough. My clients have annual reviews focused on their lifestyles, not just their money. That said, since pension freedoms, the fear was people overspending and running out – but the real issue is the opposite. I often joke I spend half my day nagging clients to spend more. It’s about enjoying the ‘healthy retirement’ years – 50s/60s to mid-80s – without leaving too much we can never spend. More often than not you should front-load retirement, with travel and experiences sooner rather than later.