Here is a practical approach to creating a retirement plan that will help enable financial peace of mind.
Many investors concentrate on building their nest egg during their working lives to pay or help pay for their retirement but fail to give enough attention to planning for a retirement that may last 25 years or longer.
A lack of retirement planning makes retirees more financially vulnerable than necessary in numerous ways including the possibility of outliving your retirement savings, overreacting to market volatility, not planning for unexpected costs and holding a portfolio that isn’t properly diversified.
Some retirees who have not properly planned for retirement may have underestimated the amount required to finance their anticipated lifestyles, while others may be living too frugally given their financial needs.
By following a practical approach for creating a retirement plan that aligns with retirees’ often-unique goals while mitigating risk, retirees may gain greater confidence that savings will match with your future financial needs.
Step 1: Determine your retirement goals
These goals typically include having enough income to pay for basic living expenses, a contingency reserve (such as for medical treatment, home repairs and aged care) and discretionary spending (such as eating out and holidays). And you may plan to leave an inheritance. Once your goals are listed, you can prioritise their importance.
Step 2. Understand your risks
These include market risk, health risk, longevity and mortality risk, event risk (again such as medical treatment, home repairs and aged care), and tax and policy risk (changes to government policies and health care coverage). The research suggests that these risks should be addressed in the context of their impact on achieving their retirement goals.
Step 3: Assess your available financial resources
This will help ensure that your capital is used as efficiently as possible. Financial resources include super and non-super savings, age pension if eligible, annuities, insurance, housing wealth, insurance, and any additional income if planning to work in retirement.
Step 4: Develop a plan to achieve your goals and mitigate your risks
This is a matter of bringing together the various elements of your retirement planning. The right mix of resources should be tailored to your individual circumstances. It should take into account the relative importance of competing goals and the risks that a retiree may be susceptible or sensitive to.
The ultimate retirement goal
In the end, peace of mind may be the ultimate retirement goal bearing in mind this phase of life may represent at least a quarter of our lives.
If you’d like to start planning for your retirement, contact us today on 1300 79 80 38.
If you would like assistance getting your accounts under control as we approach the end of financial year, call us today on 1300 79 80 38.
Visit our Financial Knowledge Centre where you will access educational videos and articles, plus join our monthly e-Newsletter to help improve your financial knowledge.
If this article interested you and you would like to speak to Pat Casey on the phone, select a time to speak Pat – Financial Planner Sydney.
At Assure Wealth we specialise in helping busy, successful families structure their finances to achieve greater wealth and financial peace of mind.
Author: Pat Casey – Managing Director & Financial Planner Sydney – Assure Wealth
Download the Assure Wealth Corporate Brochure
Disclaimer: The information provided on this website has been provided as general advice only. We have not considered your financial circumstances, needs or objectives and you should seek the assistance of your Walker Lane Pty Ltd Adviser before you make any decision regarding any products mentioned in this communication. Whilst all care has been taken in the preparation of this material, no warranty is given in respect of the information provided and accordingly neither Walker Lane nor its related entities, employees or agents shall be liable on any ground whatsoever with respect to decisions or actions taken as a result of you acting upon such information.
Assure Wealth Pty Ltd ABN 31 965 466 780 Corporate Authorised Representative no. 1244817, Patrick Casey Sub-Authorised Representative no. 1244748 of Walker Lane Pty Ltd ABN 70 626 199 826, an AFSL
