Answer Ten

Well done for thinking about your financial future

We are so excited you chose to embark on your journey with us. You would suit our Discover package with a focus on:

Retirement Planning

Other than tax our next biggest complaint is ‘that we didn’t start planning sooner’. Ask yourself, when are you going to retire, and where is your retirement income going to be paid from? Will this be from your allocated pension, property, shares, managed funds or possibly a Government age pension? It could be a combination of them all. 

We’ve all heard of those that have made it big from the sale of a property, but what happens if you don’t have the money to buy that property in the first place? You need to look into different strategies. 

Retirement planning is not just about using superannuation but structuring your affairs to help you create your own investment portfolio that will deliver you an income to support a healthy retirement. 

Don’t leave it until it’s too late, leaving things to the last minute will just make it harder to reach your goals. By planning early you might only need to modify your current spending minimally, leaving it until later might require huge compromises to your standard of living. 

Cash Savings

It’s important to have a cash reserve to meet day-to-day emergencies like replacing a household item or an unexpected repair. We will discuss your personal needs and recommend an amount to be kept as your cash savings, separate from your other investments. 

ABS data indicates that super was the main source of income for 19% of retirees. Interestingly, 53% of those intending to retire expect super to be their main source of income.

Cashflow and Budgeting

When our capacity to save increases, which is generally due to a combination of hitting our salary peak and expenses decreasing due to children leaving home, there is a chance to capitalise on this theoretical surplus for the future. What can happen instead though is that lifestyle expenditure increases. There is often a balance between investing in current experiences and investing for the future. But what if I told you that could do both? By making plans about what we want to achieve we also can achieve purpose to our spending. If, for example, you have a plan to travel every year maybe you do not need that extra coffee everyday; that saving could be an extra $1,000 per annum to put towards a trip. To help with budgeting the first step is to map out your essential spending so that you know exactly how much you can spend on discretionary spending. The next step is to make the decision based on your goals whether you want that trip to Italy or alternatively a trip to a cheaper destination that allows you to save some money to make extra repayments to that lingering mortgage, extra contributions to super or a contribution to an investment. Managing your cashflow and having a budget gives power and informed choice to your decision making and is the foundation of a sound financial strategy.