You’ll usually have different expenses when you retire. For example you won’t need fares to work or work clothes, but you’ll probably have higher fuel bills, and you may have plans for all your extra free time. So plan your budget to help you manage your money – see Managing in retirement for more information.

If you’re thinking of retiring early, bear in mind that your pension will have had less time to build up and will be paid out for longer, so you could be living on a lower income than you might expect.

As you approach retirement, you can take some simple steps to ensure you get the pension and other benefits you may be entitled to.

You may be entitled to a basic State Pension (and an additional State Pension) if you’ve reached State Pension age and you – or your husband, wife or civil partner – have paid or been credited with sufficient National Insurance Contributions.

If there are gaps in your contribution record, then you might want to consider paying extra contributions to get more State Pension. If you have taken time out of paid work to have children or care for someone, your right to the State Pension may have been protected during these periods. Get a State Pension forecast first to find out how much you’ll be entitled to.

Usually, you will get an invitation to claim your State Pension four months before you reach State Pension age. If you haven’t received this three months before you are due to retire, get in touch with the Pension Service.

You can delay claiming your State Pension when you reach State Pension age, or choose to stop claiming it after you have already claimed. This allows you to build up extra income or to get a taxable lump-sum payment.

How and when you get your work pension depends on what type of pension scheme you belong to, so find out from your employer what you have. This could be an occupational salary-related (also called defined-benefit or final-salary) scheme, an occupational defined-contribution (or money-purchase) scheme, or a Group Personal or Group Stakeholder pension plan. Remember that if your pension is directly dependent on investment returns, it will affect the level of income you’ll get in retirement.

You can draw a pension from your employer’s occupational scheme and carry on working, so long as the scheme rules allow this.

You may have a personal or stakeholder pension if you were self-employed at any time or if your employer didn’t offer an occupational scheme. Both are money purchase pensions and are dependent on investment returns, so this will affect the level of income you’ll get in retirement. You don’t have to stop work to start drawing a personal or stakeholder pension.

If you’ve worked for other employers or may have other private pension schemes, such as a personal or stakeholder pension, contact the companies involved. If you’ve lost track of a pension you had, you can contact the Pension Tracing Service.

If you’ve contracted out of the State Second Pension (formally SERPS) you could have a personal or stakeholder pension into which your rebates have been paid. If you’re not sure whether you were contracted out, call the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) helpline on 0845 915 0150 (call rates may vary).

If you’ve been working and saving into a personal or work pension, you will have the option to take some of it (up to 25%) as a tax-free lump sum when you retire or to leave it invested in your pension fund. If you take a lump sum, this will reduce the amount of money left to provide you with your income in retirement. Think about whether you want to take it and what you plan to do with it.

After deciding whether to take any tax-free lump sum, you then usually have to convert what’s left of your pension fund into income. For most of us, this will mean buying a lifetime annuity. If you have a wife, husband or civil partner who depends on you, you will need to consider whether you want to buy a joint-life annuity.

If you have a salary-related pension scheme, you don’t have to buy an annuity, as your pension will be paid to you direct.

If you’re ready to buy an annuity, find out what your pension provider is offering and then shop around and compare annuity rates to find the best deal for you. Remember that the annuity you get is most closely related to interest rates and the amount of money in the fund.

There’s a lot of help available at this important time, and you can get information about the different types of pension from several organisations. If you want advice that’s tailored specifically for you, consider speaking to a financial adviser.

Your income will probably go down when you retire. But you may be able to get certain benefits, for example Pension Credit, on top of any State Pension you’re entitled to. Find out what else is available to help you manage in retirement.

The income you get from your pension fund is taxable. You may pay less tax once you retire, so check you’re not paying more than you have to.

If you’re on a low income, you may be able to claim back tax you’ve paid on savings interest or pensions in the past.

If you’re on a low income, you can register to have the interest on any savings you have with a bank or building society paid free of tax.

If the value of your estate (broadly everything you own when you die, less what you owe) is above a set amount, inheritance tax must be paid from it. Find out about the exemptions to this.

You may already have life insurance, but now’s a good time to review what you’ve got or think about how else you can protect your family and dependants. There are many different types of insurance, so find out what’s right for you.

You may be able to get special discounts now that you’re over a certain age. Shop around and compare features and costs. You can use comparison sites, but bear in mind that not all providers are listed on all sites.

Now’s the time to think about making the most of your retirement income. Do you have an emergency savings fund? If not, consider starting one. Use our Savings calculator to find out how your savings might grow in the future. There are many different savings and investment accounts, and some are tax free, so shop around. Or you could get professional advice on which products would be best for you.

Have you got any savings accounts you’ve forgotten about that could provide money in retirement? Perhaps you moved house and forgot to tell your bank, for instance. Trace them through a free service run by banks, building societies and National Savings & Investments (NS&I).

Have you got any investments or insurance products you’ve forgotten about? Trace them for a fixed fee through the Unclaimed Assets Register, which is a database of unclaimed life policies, pensions, unit-trust holdings and share dividends.

It’s easy for us to put off making a will, but if you die without one, the law specifies how your money and assets will be shared out. So a will is the best way to make sure your estate is passed on to family and friends exactly as you wish. You can also use a will to make sure you don’t pay more inheritance tax than necessary. And if you have one, it’s always a good idea to review it from time to time.

You can appoint a friend or family member to administer your estate (an executor), or a professional who makes a charge for carrying out the work.

You might need to, or want to, carry on working. There’s professional help available specifically for the over-50s.