Retiring in Australia takes careful planning, especially when it comes to your finances and your income strategy once you’ve stopped working.
As an advice firm with a wealth of experience helping our clients plan for a successful retirement, we are aware that there is a range of issues that you need to think about when it comes to putting together an effective retirement strategy.
To give you an idea of these considerations, and to help you discover if you are financially ready to retire, this retirement scorecard could give you useful insight.
You simply answer a series of questions and the scorecard will analyse your finances and help you discover if you are financially ready for retirement in Australia.
In this article, you can read more about the scorecard and how it can help inform your planning for a successful retirement.
It’ll only take five minutes for you to complete, and you’ll get personalised results directly into your inbox.
Retirement planning is about more than money
Before you start putting your retirement plan together, you need to have at least an outline idea of your intentions and aspirations in retirement.
After all, it’s much easier planning a journey if you know where you want to get to!
A series of questions on the scorecard will assist you in confirming your aims. These will then help us to build a financial plan that supports you in achieving your objectives.
Your answers will also help you deal with the emotional aspects of moving from the world of work to the next phase of your life.
Answer some key questions
A key part of the scorecard is answering some important questions about your retirement plans. These include:
- When you intend to retire
- Where you are planning to live
- An idea of what you intend to do.
Answering these will help you ascertain the income you’ll need, and whether you’ll need any lump sums to help you with immediate expenses such as a property purchase.
Think about your existing pension assets and the income they could provide
Once you’ve supplied an idea of your retirement plans, even if it is just an outline at this stage, the next step is to ensure you have the funds to support your desired lifestyle.
As a result, it’s important to know whether you have accumulated enough money in savings, investments, and pensions to cover the cost of what you have in mind.
So, you will need to answer some questions about your existing pensions, where they all are, and how much they are currently worth.
You will also be asked if you, or a financial planner, has put together a cashflow forecast projecting your income and expenditure in retirement.
Your pensions will likely provide a significant proportion of their income. As a result, you will need to review these funds on a regular basis to understand how they are performing and whether any changes are required.
Non-pension assets that could provide you with retirement income
While your pensions will probably provide the foundation of your income in retirement, you may well have other assets that you could use to provide additional income and cover large capital expenses.
So, as well as keeping track of your pension assets, it’s also important to review your other savings and investments regularly to ensure they remain on track to achieve your goals and aligned to your attitude to risk.
Planning your legacy
Finally, there are some questions that will prompt you to consider your legacy and how you want your wealth managed after you pass away.
We all want to have a long and happy retirement. However, illness or early death could curtail that. So, it’s essential that you plan for the worst, just in case it happens.
That means making a will in both the UK and Australia, as well as ensuring you have appropriate arrangements in place to ensure your loved ones are catered for if the worst happens.
Get in touch
If you would like to know more about our retirement scorecard and how it can help you plan for your retirement, please get in touch with us.
Please note
The value of your investment can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
This article is for information only. Please do not solely rely on anything you have read in this article and ensure that you conduct your own research to ensure any actions you may take are suitable for your circumstances.
All contents are based on our understanding of ATO and HMRC legislation, which is subject to change.
