Retirement Planning

At Strategic Planning Solutions, we define retirement as the point in your life when working becomes a choice. If, however, your do not have adequate financial provision for your retirement, you may not have the choice!

Another way of looking at the retirement phase of your life is when you stop saving from your earnings and start earning from your savings!

Here are some important questions to think about:

  • Do you know how much income you require to live on in retirement?
  • Do you know how much you need to accumulate to generate your retirement income?
  • Do you know how long your current retirement savings will sustain your desired retirement income and hence, your lifestyle?
  • Do have an effective and measurable strategy in place to maximise your financial journey to retirement?

If you could not answer “Yes” to all of the above questions, you may be ‘flying blindly’ towards retirement!

Retirement planning should start from the first day you start your working life. However, in reality, many leave their attempt to build up sufficient funds to enable them to maintain the lifestyle to which they are accustomed too late. According to statistics only 6% of people retire financially independent. This is not a very comforting thought. The main reason for this is that people fail to plan, and see retirement planning as too complicated.

However, it is never too late to improve your financial future.

At Strategic Planning Solutions, our role is to advise you on the necessary steps required to achieve your financial and lifestyle goals in retirement. Our Strategic Advice approach ensures that our solution is tailored to helping you improve your retirement outcome from a financial and lifestyle perspective.

In planning for your retirement we will consider:

  • Your existing assets,
  • The age at which you would like to retire,
  • The realistic level of income you need to meet your lifestyle goals,
  • The likely sources of income,
  • Your potential Centrelink entitlement, and
  • Your current level of savings.

Another important issue to consider when planning for your retirement includes your Estate Planning. Will the wealth in your estate go to who you want, when you want, in a tax effective manner?

Planning your Retirement Lifestyle Goals

Retirement is one of the top ten most stressful times in your life. Effective planning can alleviate the financial stress of retirement. An integral part of your retirement planning is to take the time to set some lifestyle goals, such as the activities you would like to pursue during your retirement years. For example, your:

  • Travel plans,
  • Hobbies, and
  • Volunteer work

Once set, you should prioritise your retirement goals according to your physical ability to undertake them, embarking upon the more demanding activities in your early years of retirement.

Ongoing Review and Management

After implementing appropriate strategies, it is most important that you manage your personal cash flow, as you will be potentially dealing with your last dollars. This is where our ‘Personal Cash Flow Management’ service can help you remain on track and give you peace of mind knowing that you are in control of your finances during your retirement years.

If you would like take some positive steps towards planning for your retirement, or if you would like to see where your current course is heading from a financial perspective, please contact us today to arrange a time to meet.