Saving for Retirement: The Case of Anne Kirkbride (UK)

By Ryan Smith –

Weatherfield’s Deirdre Barlow, aka Popular Coronation Street star Anne Kirkbride, left just £104,000 to her husband following her death from cancer earlier this year it has been revealed.

For many, £104,000 is a big cash inheritance, but for an actress of the stature of Kirkbride, who was a regular fixture on the TV soap opera for over 40 years, a household name and on a salary of around £270,000 per year, it’s a pretty measly amount.

When she passed away aged 60, she had sole assets valued at just £186,651, with the value reduced to £103,942 after liabilities (taxes and outstanding debts).

The news of Kirkbride’s relatively small estate, in comparison to the salary she commanded, also brings to mind recent comments made by another UK soap opera star and household name – Eastenders’ June Brown, aka Dot Cotton – and raises the importance of preparing financially for retirement.

The 88-year old recently spoke with Radio 4 and claimed that, due to the worldwide financial crisis her pensions weren’t worth anywhere close to what people might expect.

“I’ve had two pensions each that have gone down by 50%”. June Brown continued to explain that she feels as though continuing work is a necessity, for fear of “being poor when [she’s] old” – even at 88 years of age!

The actress said “You might laugh at that and think ‘she’ll never be poor when she’s old’, but I’ve not squirreled away lots of money”.

Despite the recent pension freedoms that came into effect in the UK, removing restrictions on accessing pension savings despite the security of an annuity, other soap stars have also found themselves disillusioned with the pension process: EastEnders actor Larry Lamb stated that his biggest financial regret was saving into a pension religiously throughout his career, which again ended up being worth very little comparatively – again citing the financial crisis as the reason.

OK, so we all need to make sure that we enjoy our lives, and rewarding ourselves for our hard work by, inevitable spending the money we’ve earning is a necessity for our mental well-being and happiness. But many won’t have the luxury of a six-figure salary as well as all the perks that go with being a TV celebrity.

By not preparing for your retirement, or racking up debts later in life, this could lead to even more stressful situations following your retirement.

It will be harder to make adequate provisions for family and loved ones for when you’ve gone, too. Saving for retirement is essential – if you’ve become accustomed to a certain quality of life, relying solely on the UK state pension could see you having to adjust to a major shift if your lifestyle, and one that you may not particularly enjoy.

Pension contributions are a vital part of this, and we’d hope that in middle age you’ll be making regular contributions to your pension plan. The continued rolling out of the government’s auto-enrolment scheme for workplace pensions means that their value can be boosted massively by additional contributions from your employer, as well as a 20% tax relief on your payments from the government.

Pension investing is important too, and you can be very smart here as long as you’re cautious.arge growth sounds appealing to everybody, but risky investments can mean there’s every chance that the investments will decline massively in value too. Younger investors have the time to recoup losses, so this can be very beneficial if you’re starting early. But for those starting to save later in life, we’d recommend sticking to the more stable and secure investments.

Choosing your pension provider can also have an impact on your future finances. Make sure you’re getting the best deal in terms of fees and charges so that your investment isn’t being eaten away by your provider. With workplace pensions under the auto-enrolment scheme you may not get all of your employers’ benefits if you switch provider, though it’s always worth having that conversation with your boss.

Ryan Smith is part of the content development team at Compare Annuity, getting the best annuity rates for people approaching retirement.