Infinity Wealth Advisers > How we can help > Retirement Planning

Retirement Planning

Retirement means different things to different people. To ensure you get to live out your retirement dream, you can and should take steps towards it whether you are 5 or 50 years from it.

Key Considerations:

  • The best time to think about retirement is well in advance  however,  saying that, it is never too late to start. As the saying goes, better late than never.
  • Retirement isn’t a common conversation that takes place amongst households and most people never think about it seriously until they are well into their late 50’s and some even later.
  • With the advancement of medical sciences and technology we are now living longer than ever before. Whilst the longer life expectancy for both men and women is great news, it also poses a risk that many retirees may outlive their capital more commonly known as the longevity risk.
  • Could you rely on the Age Pension and would it be enough to fund the lifestyle you’d like when you are no longer working.? To ensure you don’t leave anything to chance,  the best thing to do is to start planning for retirement well in advance. 
  • Due to the principle of compounding, smaller amounts contributed well in advance of retirement may potentially turn out to be more effective than larger sums contributed closer to retirement. Therefore, the key is to start early even if you can manage to initially put away only small sums towards your retirement savings.

 

Retirement Milestones

Retirement more than 10 years away

If Retirement is still more than 10 years away it may seem irrelevant to discuss your retirement plans especially when you are busy in raising a family, buying a house or going on holiday.

Common questions to consider:

  1. How much money do I require so I can retire comfortably?
  2. Is the balance of my superannuation enough to fund my retirement?
  3. What are some of the ways in which I can best fund my retirement?
  4. What is meant by salary sacrifice and why should I consider it?
  5. How much should I be putting away now and where for a comfortable retirement?
  6. Why are women at a financial disadvantage and usually have lower superannuation balances when it comes to retirement and what can they do about it?
  7. I have multiple superannuation funds from various previous employments. Should I combine them and if so, into which fund?

How we can help
:

  1. Conduct a comprehensive review of your current financial position, identify the gaps between where you currently stand and where you need to be.
  2. Recommend strategies to fill in the gaps to help you meet your retirement lifestyle goals.
  3. Work with you to develop a budget, savings and investment plan to achieve your short-term and long term goals.
  4. Help you identify and secure areas of financial risk by reviewing your situation and recommending wealth and protection plans.

Retiring within the next 7 – 10 years

A longer life expectancy and an early retirement add up to a substantial portion of one’s life being spent in retirement. Whilst, this could be a good thing, it also poses the challenge of funding this phase to ensure it is lived well. It takes careful planning done well in advance to ensure retirement is an enjoyable journey.

Common questions to consider:

  1. How much money do I require so I can retire comfortably?
  2. How can I maximise my retirement nest egg whilst I am still working?
  3. At what age and under what circumstances can I access my super?
  4. Will I pay tax on my super if I take a lump sum and if yes, how much?
  5. What is my eligibility for the Age Pension?
  6. What is meant by the Income and assets test and how will they affect my eligibility for the Age Pension?
  7. What are the different types of income streams that can provide for my retirement lifestyle?

How we can help
:

  1. Evaluate how much will you need in your retirement savings and assess when you can retire based on your plans.
  2. Establish a plan to accumulate enough retirement assets within your timeframe.
  3. Compare, consider and advice on retirement income products to help you manage your retirement wealth
  4. Ensure your social security entitlements for which you may be eligible are maximised.
  5. Ensure you have adequate asset and personal protection in place.
  6. Help you to ascertain that your estate plans are up-to-date.

Reached retirement age

Whilst you may have reached retirement age but you may not feel like hanging up the work boots altogether and you would like to know what your options are. Also, if you’re eligible for the Age Pension, the government offers incentives for working people to defer claiming it. On the contrary, if you’ve self funded your retirement, you may benefit from a comprehensive review of your current financial arrangements to ensure that you are maximising any entitlements that you may be eligible for.

Common questions to consider


  1. I’ve already retired. How do I know that what I have will last me through my retirement?
  2. I have been retired for a couple of years now. Is it too late to restructure my financial arrangements?
  3. What is the Pension Bonus Scheme and how do I know if I am eligible for it?
  4. How much is the Pension Bonus Scheme and when is it paid?
  5. Apart from social security benefits, are we eligible for anything else now that we’ve retired?
  6. Now that we’ve retired should we downsize and can we contribute the excess funds into our retirement savings?
  7. How can I use the proceeds from the sale of my business to fund my retirement in the most tax effective way?

How we can help:

  1. Review your current arrangements in line with your retirement goals and identify any areas of concern and advice on any remediation required to ensure the outcome is in line with your goals and objectives.
  2. Provide regular legislative updates about social security and superannuation changes that might affect you.