Are you doing enough to put money aside for your retirement? It’s something that’s becoming harder and harder to do in recent years, so it’s no shame to feel anxiety about your prospects.

Should you start saving in your golden years? In the UK, we’re starting to see more people reaching retirement age who are financially unable to stop working.

Despite the increasing difficulty, though, having a clear focus on your goals for retirement is well worth the effort. Putting yourself into a position where you are financially stable and free to pursue whatever you want with your time is incredibly rewarding.

The road to that point should start as soon as you can. Here’s some advice on how to start saving in your golden years.

Start saving early

When we see stories of retirement-age people needing to carry on work due to being insufficiently financially stable to retire, the importance of saving for as long as possible only goes up. The earlier you save money, the more time that it has to grow in value, so putting away what you can when you can is always going to be helpful.

Putting together a robust budget is an important step here, as you don’t want to commit to saving more than you can afford to do. Work out what you need to spend on everyday living expenses as well as things like healthcare costs and other essentials, then leave yourself a bit of wiggle room for spending on leisure – you don’t need to force yourself to live a completely spartan lifestyle – before seeing how much you might have left over that you could put towards savings monthly.

Consider working for longer

Nobody wants to think about it, in an ideal world, but you might be able to make a plan towards a more tapered approach to retirement, where you can make your savings go further by continuing to work in some capacity for a little longer than you otherwise would, even at a reduced capacity.

A partial retirement, involving working part-time or reduced hours for a certain period to build up a larger savings kitty, could be the way to go. You could also explore some transitional jobs after leaving a full-time career, like driving or childcare, which might represent a lower-stress way to continue making money.

Investments are worth it

To make your money go as far as possible, it’s wise to lean on the professionals. There is always some risk involved but it is possible to identify lower-risk opportunities that can contribute greatly to your savings pot. You could consider reaching out to a financial investment advisor to create a plan that works with your goals; their expertise may be able to help you get more out of your investments than if you were managing them all yourself.