Free course

Retirement planning made easy

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Retirement planning made easy
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Course description

Course content

This free course on money and retirement planning has been produced by The Open University in collaboration with Legal & General.


Planning your retirement is probably the most important aspect of financial planning for you to consider. Making the right decisions and building a sound financial plan can help to ensure that you have the quality of life in retirement that you aspire to.

Watch the following video in which Emma Byron, Managing Director of Legal & General Retirement Solutions, talks about some of the things you need to consider when planning your retirement and how this course can help you.

Transcript68

This course sets out the series of stepping-stones to a financially secure retirement. As Emma explains, most people approaching retirement now have more options both about when to retire and about how they use the pension 'pots' they have built up. This course examines these options to help you decide with confidence which are right for you.

You'll look at what you can do if your pension is not sufficient to cover your spending needs in retirement, and learn about the impact of divorce and bereavement on pensions and household finances.

You will explore a mixture of reading, short videos and activities, and there's a quiz at the end for you to check your understanding.

Please note: the content of this course relates to the UK, although there are some parts that generally apply when planning for retirement, such as forecasting your expected spending and identifying all the sources of pension income.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

  • estimate how much money you’ll need in retirement 
  • understand how pensions – including the state pension – work and how much income they will offer in retirement
  • understand the different options for taking money from pension pots and the pros and cons of each choice
  • understand the options available should pension income not be enough to match your plans and lifestyle in retirement
  • understand how events such as divorce and bereavement can impact your retirement finances and learn how to deal with them.
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First Published: 18/08/2021

Updated: 18/08/2021

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