A phased retirement plan offers the best of both worlds: you can continue doing the thing you love – or even take on a different type of employment – while starting to draw your pension. Over time, you can gradually reduce your working hours and up your retirement hours, until you decide (and are in a position) to retire fully.

There are obvious benefits to working after retirement age, whether that’s on full, or reduced hours (assuming your employer lets you). The biggest one, from a financial perspective, is that you’ll continue to receive an employment income meaning you can keep much of your pension invested.

There are also emotional benefits. Phased retirement avoids the ‘cliff edge’ of going from a busy, full-time employed role, to suddenly finding yourself at home with lots of time on your hands. Reducing your employed hours while upping your leisure time will provide a smoother transition to a new way of living – and give you some time to work out what you want from your retirement.

Taking this approach does require some forward planning, and there are tax implications to consider too, so it’s important to speak to a financial planner. But the flexibility that phased retirement offers is something worth considering when planning your retirement strategy.