Retirement Planning

So what do you envisage retirement to be?

Retirement is not just ceasing gainful employment, but could be changing careers, having the flexibility of choosing when to work and when to party. Or just simply having the opportunity to explore your hobbies and the globe!
The RSM Financial belief toward retirement is that;
“Retirement should be a protected path from which you are able to evaluate your position and grasp life’s opportunities, without financial stress”

So when considering your version of retirement, we need you to be able to answer the following questions:

• What is your idea of retirement?
• Do you think you could transition from full time work to nothing, in a short space of time?
• Your social circle, are they retired?
• What does your spouse think about retirement?
• Are you wanting to downsize or move residence?
• Do you envisage any large lump sum or ongoing expenses like a car, caravan or holiday?
• And what is your idea of how you’re going to afford all of the above?

We realise we’ve just bombarded you with questions and some are easier than others to answer. A good starting point is to know what your current lifestyle costs. Because chances are that any variation from which you are accustomed, will not be welcomed. 

Retirement is long term! 

Prudent retirement planning is not just about your immediate living expenses, but the potential long-term costs too.
We are living longer and healthier lives, so it pays to think about the costs you may experience in later years. The average life expectancy for a 65-year-old man is about 19 more years, and 22 years for a woman. But these are just averages that do not take into account your individual circumstances – you may live for much longer!

The ageing of the population and increasing life expectancies are significant drivers of Age Pension expenditures. As such, continued government legislation changes relating to testing requirements should be expected when receiving age pension entitlements.

The proportion of people aged 65 and over is expected to increase from around 13.5 per cent to over 22 per cent by 2050. In particular, the number of people aged over 85 is expected to quadruple. This is expected to result in the number of working age people supporting a person aged over 65 decreasing from around five people today to 2.7 people in 2050. Causing the potential for further constraints toward the Age pension testing requirements. So our advice; think long term and if possible consider funding your retirement without aged pension entitlements.

Source: http://demographics.treasury.gov.au/content/_download/flexible_retirement_income_system/HTML/retirement.asp