Why you need to start your retirement strategy now
No matter if you are 50, 55 or 60+, there are important strategies you can be considering now in preparation for retirement.
Key considerations in the lead up to retirement:
- Understanding the pivotal point of when to contribute to superannuation vs debt repayments or investments outside of superannuation.
- While debt repayments or savings/investments can be crucial in the lead up to retirement, the benefits of timing where to place your funds to maximise your position can have a significant impact on your finances in the long term.
- What needs to be considered:
- Outstanding debt
- Wealth accumulation investment strategies
- Strategies to reduce your taxable income
- How will you get paid in retirement, investments inside superannuation, outside superannuation, age pension entitlements or a mixture? How much will you need and what strategies can you put in place now to maintain your lifestyle throughout retirement
Our most common enquiries:
- How much money will I need in retirement?
- Where will my money come from?
- Will I have enough money to lead the lifestyle of my choice in retirement, am I at risk of my money running out?
- Don’t I just withdrawal all my superannuation when I retire?
- Can I afford to help my children?
- Should I be purchasing investment properties or should I consider other investments inside or outside superannuation?
- When can I access my superannuation tax free?
- Will I be entitled to social security payments to supplement my income from superannuation and other savings?
- Do I still need to hold my personal insurances, at what point will I be able to self-insure?
- I haven’t even considered retirement, it seems so far away and I’m not sure at what point I will be able to retire.
Retirement planning is about practical strategies to help you lead the lifestyle of choice in retirement. Whether you have sufficient money for retirement is an issue for most people as this will impact when you can retire. Whatever the goal, prudent retirement planning should ensure that investments, including allocation of assets, are appropriate to your personal needs in tax-effective structures. It should consider ways to maximise social security benefits and the value of both superannuation and non-superannuation assets.
Australia has a three-pillar structure when it comes to retirement income:
- the government-funded age pension
- compulsory saving through the superannuation guarantee and
- voluntary superannuation savings
Superannuation is a tax-advantaged saving vehicle used for saving for retirement. It also provides tax-effective income and growth after retirement. Social security benefits alone may be insufficient to provide for the lifestyle that many people desire in retirement. However, a great number of people use the social security system to supplement the income available from their superannuation and other savings.
When to speak to your adviser?
- Inheritance / windfall
- Considering retirement
- Understanding when to pay down debt vs make additional contributions to super
- Upsizing or downsizing
- Change of circumstances
