Retirement is something most of us look forward to − particularly on a Monday morning. However, those thoughts are often little more than a whimsical cocktail of not having to work and prolonged holidays. The reality could be rather different, particularly if your retirement date is some way off.

For a start, retirement is now often not the sudden change from work to enforced idleness that it used to be. It has increasingly become a gradual process, with part-time work playing an important role. The latest data from National Statistics show that 13.5% of men and 7.3% of women aged 65 and over are still in employment.