Securinvest Financial Planners

• When would you like to retire?
• What would you like to do in retirement?
• How can you afford to retire?
• What is the best way to plan for retirement?
• What do you need to do to prepare yourself for retirement?

Superannuation is often overlooked when people are planning for their financial goals and in the past this may not have been a concern since most people lived just a few years after retirement. However, with modern scientific and medical advances and a healthier lifestyle, Australians are living longer. The reduction in retirement age also leaves you with less time to save and it is no longer enough to rely on the government to look after you in your retirement.

How much will be adequate in retirement?

Over your lifetime, you develop a certain lifestyle and there are needs and activities that you wish to accommodate. It is not unreasonable to expect that when you retire you should be able to maintain this standard of living and still have the time and money to explore new opportunities.

So how much will you need to retire? A good way to answer this is to ask yourself how much of what you currently earn could you manage to live without? A general rule of thumb is that you could get by comfortably on a retirement income of between 60 and 80 percent of your current earnings.