Tips when Starting Retirement
Retirement is a big life event. The constant stream of employment income is no more, you more than likely have an empty nest (hopefully) and now have to rely on the assets you have accumulated through your working life.
Like marriage, buying your first home or having children; retirement is an important financial milestone for you. It is a time when you should take stock of your financial situation to make sure you are starting this new chapter on the right foot.
There are many lifestyle and financial decisions that need to be made in retirement. We have outlined a few financial items to keep in mind. By no means an exhaustive list, but often things that may be overlooked.
Risk Profile
Your personal Risk Profile takes into account various factors. As Financial Advisers, we go through these with you during the advice process:
- Goals
- Attitude to risk
- Investment timeframe
- Current financial situation
When you retire, two of these elements may change:
- Your goal for your superannuation is no longer about accumulating, but drawing down on your investment.
- Your investment horizon would have changed as you are starting to rely on your investment for income.
For many, their Risk Profile might not change when reaching retirement, but it is certainly an element of your Financial Plan that should be reviewed.
Centrelink Benefits
For many Australians, the Centrelink Aged Pension forms a very important part of their retirement income. Gaining the Age Pension, although somewhat time consuming, is fairly straight forward. Centrelink are very good at finding you all the benefits you are entitled to.
The asset and income thresholds to receive the age pension are quite generous. Although they start quite low, the upper thresholds allow you to have quite a decent amount of assets and income and still receive a pension. At the higher end you may not receive much age pension, but it will make you eligible to receive a Pensioner Concession Card which gives you access to cheaper health care and can be quite valuable.
Insurance
It has formed a very important safety net for you through your working life. It has provided you peace of mind that you and your family are financially protected should you suffer illness, injury or death.
But you are now retiring, your children are no longer financially dependent and you have little debt. Do you still need to maintain the same levels of insurance through your retirement?
This situation will differ for everyone, but take the opportunity of this life event to review the types of policies and the levels of cover you are holding. At a time where your income is now fixed, you don’t want to be carrying the cost of being over-insured.
Retirement is an exciting time. It can, however, also be very daunting one. Life is too short to worry about money. Schedule a no-obligation Discovery Chat with us to explore how professional advice can help you.
The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author; they are not reflective or indicative of RI Advice Group’s position and are not to be attributed to RI Advice Group. They cannot be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the author. Louella Jorge is an Authorised Representative of RI Advice Group Pty Ltd, ABN 23 001 774 125 AFSL 238429. This editorial does not consider your personal circumstances and is general advice only. It has been prepared without taking into account any of your individual objectives, financial solutions or needs. Before acting on this information, you should consider its appropriateness, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs. You should read the relevant Product Disclosure Statements and seek personal advice from a qualified financial adviser before you act
