Image courtesy of Harli Marten via Unsplash
In 2016 Investment Trends released its Retirement Income Report.
Some key findings from this report include:
- Many Australians are growing more concerned about their retirement prospects;
- 56% of Australians over the age 40 do not feel prepared for retirement;
- 51% of those already retired expect to outlive their retirement savings;
- Only one in three people surveyed feel that they would have enough income for a comfortable retirement;
- Australians typically do not begin thinking about or planning for their aged care needs until after retirement but for many, this may end up being too little too late;
- Two in three working Australians recognise that they need to turn to financial professionals to help them reach their retirement goals;
- The current suite of retirement products appeals to only a small segment of Australians.
Ultimately most Australians are feeling more and more stressed knowing that they may not have enough for retirement and more importantly – they want more options in terms of retirement financial advice.
Three Questions To Consider When Seeking Retirement Planning Advice
The answer to ensuring that you have enough for your retirement is to start planning early!
Planning for your retirement means asking yourself some important questions like:
1. What recreational activities will you likely participate in and how much will it cost?
- Are you likely to be spending more time with your family, focusing on your hobbies or just taking some time to relax? If you want to be going on an annual trip overseas or just on a camping trip from time to time you will need to factor these things into your future plans.
2. What type of legacy do you want to leave behind for your family and friends?
- If you have family that you care about then you will want to feel confident that you will have enough to leave your family with. Do you think that your estate could make a difference? For most people the answer is no.
3. How much money will you need for retirement and where will you get it from?
- For a comfortable retirement you will need approximately $100k of income per year, this roughly equates to two million dollars earning 5% per annum. What are your options for getting there? Relying on super will only get you about half way there.
Retirement Investment Advice - How To Get Started
There are three elements here that you need to consider:
1. Understand your time horizon – understanding how much time you have will impact which options you choose, because of the economic business cycle it makes sense to diversify and not put all of your eggs in one basket.
2. Consider tax implications – how you manage your taxes can have a huge effect not only on your day to day cash flow but also how much you end up with at retirement, knowing your options upfront will save you a lot of headaches later.
3. Tolerance for risk – not everyone is comfortable putting their money into the stock market and if you want to take big risks you will need more time to recover if there is a down turn in the business cycle.
It all starts with thinking about your retirement goals and how long it will take for you to get there.
Whatever your retirement goals may be, we want to help you achieve them with our comprehensive range of products and services.
Contact us today for a free strategy session and financial health check or call us on (08) 8263 4009.
We’re open Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 5.30pm excluding public holidays.
