Four steps to plan for a better retirement
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.
Written by
Vanguard
27 Jul, 2021
Latest Newsletters
Hot Issues
- Aged care report goes to the heart of Australia’s tax debate
- Removed super no longer protected from creditors: court
- ATO investigating 16.5k SMSFs over valuation compliance
- The 2025 Financial Year Tax & Super Changes You Need to Know!
- Investment and economic outlook, March 2024
- The compounding benefits from reinvesting dividends
- Three things to consider when switching your super
- Oldest Buildings in the World.
- Illegal access nets $637 million
- Trustee decisions are at their own discretion: expert
- Regular reviews and safekeeping of documents vital: expert
- Latest stats back up research into SMSF longevity and returns: educator
- Investment and economic outlook, February 2024
- Planning financially for a career break
- Could your SMSF do with more diversification?
- Countries producing the most solar power by gigawatt hours
- Labor tweaks stage 3 tax cuts to make room for ‘middle Australia’
- Quarterly reporting regime means communication now paramount: expert
- Plan now to take advantage of 5-year carry forward rule: expert
- Why investors are firmly focused on interest rates
- Super literacy low for cash-strapped
- Four timeless principles for investing success
- Investment and economic outlook, January 2024
- Wheat Production by Country
- Time to start planning for stage 3 tax cuts: technical manager
- Millions of Australians lose by leaving savings in default MySuper funds
- Vanguard economic and market outlook for 2024: A return to sound money
- An investment year of ups and downs
- How to tame the market's skewness
- The Countries that Export the Most Wine in the World
- Tips for preparing for the best tax outcomes
Article archive
- October - December 2023
- July - September 2023
- April - June 2023
- January - March 2023
- October - December 2022
- July - September 2022
- April - June 2022
- January - March 2022
- October - December 2021
- July - September 2021
- April - June 2021
- January - March 2021
- October - December 2020
- July - September 2020
- April - June 2020
- January - March 2020
- October - December 2019
- July - September 2019
- April - June 2019
- January - March 2019
- October - December 2018
- July - September 2018
- April - June 2018
- January - March 2018
- October - December 2017
- July - September 2017
- April - June 2017
- January - March 2017
- October - December 2016
- July - September 2016
- April - June 2016
- January - March 2016
- October - December 2015
- July - September 2015
- April - June 2015