Time for a midlife MOT?
What’s a midlife MOT?
Whether you’re growing your career or starting to think about retirement, midlife is a great time to review your health, work, and finances.
If you're aged between 45 and 65, the Midlife MOT is a free, easy-to-use toolkit packed with resources to help you reflect on your current situation and plan for the future. It includes the Money Midlife MOT tool from MoneyHelper, which focuses on your finances. After answering a few questions about your lifestyle and money, you’ll get a personalised report with tips to help improve your financial wellbeing and prepare for a more secure retirement.
Why it matters?
When life is busy, retirement can feel far off. Work and family often take priority, making it hard to think long term.
But with many of us living and working longer, midlife is the ideal time to assess where you are now. A midlife MOT helps you spot the areas to focus on so you can stay on track with your retirement goals.
The Midlife MOT toolkit focuses on three key areas
1. Your finances
Review your current situation and spot opportunities to build a more secure future - such as increasing your pension contributions or reducing your debt. Your report will also show you how much you might need to save for retirement.
2. Your work
Consider any changes you might want to make to your working life. Explore opportunities for upskilling, retraining or flexible working options to support your career goals and improve your work-life balance.
3. Your health and wellbeing
Think about your physical and mental health and explore small changes you can make now to help you stay well as you get older.
How can a midlife MOT help with retirement planning?
Even if retirement feels a long way off, it’s never too early to start planning. A midlife MOT is a chance to review your finances and set goals for the future. Making small changes now – like increasing your pension contributions – can help you feel more confident and in control.
It’s also important to remember, your pension and savings can also support your loved ones after you die. They’re usually passed on as part of your estate – either through your will, or legal processes if you don’t have one.
Your path to retirement
We can help you get ready for your retirement, no matter how far it feels. As a People’s Pension member, you can use our retirement planner to estimate how much money you’ll need to meet your needs through your retirement. Use our retirement planner in your online account.
You can also use your account to check how much income you are likely to receive when you retire and see how we invest your money. You can also combine your pension pots and explore options to help manage your money more easily.
Stay financially fit
As a People’s Pension member, you also get free access to nudge, a financial education platform with plenty of expert guidance to help you understand your money and reach your goals. Take control of your money with nudge.
