Its’ never too early to think about planning for your retirement, but how do you know what you need and where does the planning begin.
Having a financial planner to guide you makes it easier to navigate the roadmap to the retirement you want. Retirement planning is as much about purpose as it is about money. Start with some big goals and plan your retirement dreams by knowing what you want life to be.
How much is enough to retire on?
This is the million-dollar question. It depends your personal circumstances and everyone is different. Your lifestyle now will dictate your lifestyle when you retire, albeit at a mildly slower pace. Retirement is an extension of the life you currently live. Our experience at Rising Tide has shown us retirees don’t make wholesale lifestyle changes and lead very different lives once they finish work.
The first thing you need to think about when planning a self-funded retirement is how you spend your money. If you spend, for example $1000 a week on living expenses, then you are going to need 65% a week when you retire. Many of the costs related to going to work will be removed – your transport to and from work, parking, dry cleaning of your workwear or purchase of uniforms and similar expenses will be saved. Likewise, if you popped out for lunch or a coffee or two each day, that money is saved.
ASFA suggests a comfortable lifestyle for a couple will require around $61,000 a year and enjoy a good standard of living through the purchase of such things as; household goods, private health insurance, a reasonable car, good clothes, a range of electronic equipment, and domestic and occasionally international holiday travel.
Think about separating expenses into living or everyday expenses, and the one off or luxury expenses that you will splurge on every few years like an overseas holiday or a long trip driving around the country. Once you can imagine what the day to day expenses look like, planning for the future you with no work becomes much easier to imagine.
“It is never too early to top up your superannuation and the long-term benefit means a retirement with more peace of mind.“
Start thinking now about how you can contribute small amounts now for a better time later. The earlier you start, the better you can enjoy your retirement.
We strongly recommend you seek out financial advice from a trusted and qualified financial professional who will be able to devise an investment strategy tailored to your unique needs so that you can feel confident about your retirement.