Life stages / Mid-Life Planning
The next decade is the most important one for your money.
The decisions you make between 40 and 60 shape everything that follows. Whether you are building towards retirement, protecting what you have built, or planning how to pass it on, Aetas Wealth brings the full picture together, in plain English, around what matters to you.
Most people in this age group are not where they think they are.
Research published in 2026 found that five million UK adults aged 40 to 54 are not on track for an adequate retirement. Many believe they are managing well. The gap between expectation and reality is often invisible until someone models it properly.
The median age at which people want to retire is 60. The median age at which they actually retire is 66. That six-year gap is frequently a matter of insufficient planning, not insufficient savings.
The good news is that the 40s and 50s are still the highest-impact years for making a difference. With the right plan, the gap between where you are and where you want to be is almost always closeable.
The big questions
The big financial questions at this life stage.
- Am I actually on track for the retirement I want?
- Should I be doing more with my pension in the next decade?
- How does the Finance Act 2026 change my pension and estate plan?
- Mortgage versus investment, what is the right balance now?
- How do I protect what I have built if something goes wrong?
- Is my investment strategy still right for where I am in life?
Where we focus
Where we focus for people at this life stage.
The areas that matter most in the decade before retirement.
Pension review and consolidation
Most people in their 40s and 50s have accumulated several pension pots across different employers. Consolidating them, where appropriate, reduces cost, simplifies management, and makes it far easier to build a coherent retirement income strategy.
Retirement income planning
When can you afford to retire? What income will you have and from which sources? How do drawdown, annuity and State Pension work together? Cash flow modelling gives you a clear, honest answer rather than a rule of thumb.
Finance Act 2026, pension IHT
From April 2027, unspent pension funds will be subject to inheritance tax at 40% for the first time. If you have a substantial pension, this changes how you should use it. We model the impact on your specific situation.
Tax efficiency and investment review
Using annual allowances fully, structuring investments correctly between ISA, pension and general investment account, and ensuring your portfolio reflects where you actually are in life rather than where you were ten years ago.
Protection and estate planning
Reviewing life cover, income protection and critical illness cover as your circumstances have changed. Ensuring your estate is structured so that what you have built passes efficiently to the people you intend to benefit.
Business owner planning
If you own a business, your exit timeline and personal financial plan need to work together. Pension contributions, Business Relief, and the timing of a sale or succession all intersect with your retirement plans.
The sequence
The mid-life financial sequence.
The decisions between 45 and 60 have the highest impact of any decade. There is still time to make a significant difference, but the window is narrowing.
Model the retirement gap
Cash flow modelling shows exactly how far you are from the retirement you want, and what it would take to close it.
Maximise pension contributions
Carry-forward unused allowances from the past three years. Employer contributions are the most efficient route for directors.
Review the Finance Act 2026 position
From April 2027, unspent pensions face 40% inheritance tax. Review how your pension sits in your wider estate plan now.
Restructure investments
As retirement approaches, the balance between growth and security should shift. Review whether your portfolio reflects where you are.
Sort protection and estate planning
Life cover, income protection, will, lasting power of attorney. These are not optional at this stage.
Set the retirement date
Working backwards from a clear target focuses every decision that follows.
The 2027 change
The Finance Act 2026 changes everything about pensions.
Until now, keeping wealth inside a pension was one of the most effective estate planning strategies available. Pension funds sat outside your taxable estate, meaning they could pass to beneficiaries inheritance tax free. From 6 April 2027, that changes.
Unspent pension funds will be brought within the scope of inheritance tax at 40%. A pension pot of £500,000 that previously passed to your children intact could now face a tax charge of £200,000 or more, depending on your overall estate position.
For people in their 40s, 50s and 60s, this changes fundamental decisions: how much to hold in your pension versus other wrappers, how much to draw down each year, and how your pension interacts with your wider estate plan. The earlier you model this, the more options you have.
Common questions
Questions we hear most often.
When should I start thinking seriously about retirement planning?
The 40s and 50s are the highest-impact decade for retirement planning. You typically have meaningful pension assets already built and enough time to make significant adjustments. Waiting until your 60s reduces your options considerably.
How does the Finance Act 2026 affect my pension?
From April 2027, unspent pension funds will be subject to inheritance tax at 40% for the first time. This fundamentally changes how pensions should be used as part of an estate plan. Anyone with significant pension assets should review their planning before April 2027.
Should I consolidate my pensions?
Often yes, but not always. Consolidating simplifies planning and reduces costs, but some older pensions carry guaranteed annuity rates or defined benefit promises that would be permanently lost on transfer. Always take regulated advice before consolidating.
How do I know if I am on track?
Cash flow modelling is the most reliable way to answer this. It projects your income, expenditure, assets and liabilities forward to show whether your current plan produces the outcome you want, and what adjustments would improve it.
The first conversation is free
Find out where you actually stand.
A first conversation with Aetas Wealth costs nothing and commits you to nothing. We will look at your situation honestly and tell you what we think.
Book a free consultation →The value of investments and any income from them can fall as well as rise. You may get back less than you originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future performance. The levels and bases of taxation may also change.