Thinking about your grand retirement plan of setting about the country as a grey nomad? Want to be able to spoil your family after you finish working? Or are you simply wishing to ensure that you’re financially set to live out the rest of your life as you’d like?

No matter how you want your retirement to pan out, planning out the financial aspect can feel immense. How much would you need to retire? Will it be possible for you to retire when you want to, or will you need to continue working? That’s why the sooner you start your retirement planning, the better.

The amount to ensure a comfortable retirement is a lot more than what a modest one would need (and going up year by year). If that’s what you’re after, you’ll want to have your plan in place as soon as possible.

Here’s how you can plan for a safe and secure retirement.

• Work out how much money you should have in your super by the time you reach your preservation age.
• • Make sure that you have the right structure for your super fund and the right allocation of your assets for your needs in place (whether they’re high return, balanced, or conservative).

• • What do you want to be able to fund in your retirement? Will the amount in your accounts cover it? Consider:
    • your social life and recreation – will it cost money to attend gatherings, events, trips?
    • How you will be staying active and healthy.
    • The different retirement living options available – may include relocating to a new city or if you will need to go into a nursing home at any point in your retirement
    • helping the kids, if you have any.
  • Start planning as early as you can – ideally, your 20s is the perfect time to start setting money aside or investing for your retirement. The compound interest affecting your savings could become your best friend after all over the course of 40+ years.
  • Consider what your existing debts might be when you’re approaching retirement age – will you be paying off a home loan, or a car? Have you furthered your education and still need to pay off your debt? Work out what you might need to take into account as an additional expense towards paying off the debt.
  • Work with a professional (like us) to sort out your financial situation and get assistance with fully implementing a plan to get you to a comfortable retirement.