Making a midlife career change?

Making a career change is more common than you might think

For a while, people thought of life as a series of steps: study, work, retire. But that rigid sequence of events simply isn’t the reality for many. Life changes, and it’s natural for your career to change with it.    

Maybe you want a role that bends around caring responsibilities.   

Perhaps there’s a business idea you’re finally ready to bring to life.   

Or you might be approaching retirement and thinking about moving to part‑time work. 

The idea of having one lifelong job is less common today than it once was. It’s not unusual for people to have several careers over their lifetime. In fact, one in three people (31%) aged 45 to 54 say they expect to change career before they retire.*  And remember, your future is yours – you get to decide what you do with it.

 

How a change at work shows up in your money

All these changes – whether planned or not – can have an impact on your financial future, especially as you move into the later chapters of your career. Reduced hours, part‑time roles or time out of the workforce may be the right call. But they can also influence promotions, pay, and how much you and your employer pay into your pension. Here’s how that can show up day to day: 

• Payday feels different. New hours or a different role can affect your salary, bonuses and benefits, as well as your pension contributions – both for you and your employer.
• Contributions ebb and flow. If you dial down your pension contributions for a while, you’ll likely save a little less for tomorrow and you might miss some employer top‑ups.
• Time out can touch your State Pension. Breaks to retrain, launch something new or provide care can affect your National Insurance (NI) record and what you’ll receive later. You could be entitled to protect your NI record through certain credits or by paying voluntary contributions, so it’s worth looking into this.
• Pots can scatter. Job moves and pauses often leave pensions dotted around, which makes them harder to keep an eye on.
• Going solo? There’s freedom with self-employment – but it means no automatic employer contributions to your pension. Setting up regular payments puts you back in the driver’s seat. 

 

Looking ahead

Priorities change. Roles shift. Caring responsibilities may come and go. Through it all, your future is yours to shape. When your work changes, take a moment to review your pensions so your plans for tomorrow stay on track. The result? A working life that fits who you are now, and growing confidence in the life you’re building next.  

A pension is an investment. Its value can go down as well as up and it could be worth less than what was paid in.