Mary Harris is a civil servant aged 54 and John Harris, who is the same age, works in IT. They both earn about £100,000 a year, but John's job security is uncertain. Mary is in the civil service final-salary pension scheme, which will provide a pension of around £43,000 a year when she retires in five years, together with a lump sum of about £90,000.
Pension, Sipp, Isas, trading account and cash
Retirement pot of £1m, help son to buy home
"We anticipate our retirement will start in five years' time, and that we will stay invested and draw down an income rather than buy an annuity," says Mary. "I have therefore been aiming for a retirement pot of £1m, assuming a 3 per cent return after inflation and tax-efficient drawdown. In the meantime, subject to our income, we would ideally like to have a further £100,000 to add to the value of our main property to open up further choices as to where we might live in retirement.