Retirement

Managing and protecting your wealth.

 

It’s time to enjoy the benefits of your wealth creation strategy. As we are healthier, more active and living longer we want to make the most of the lifestyle and financial freedom retirement brings.

Longer life expectancy is a key challenge in planning for a financially secure retirement and even our clients who have had a long-term wealth creation strategy in place ask:

  • How much money should I have in retirement?
  • What will my retirement income look like?
  • Will I have enough money for my desired lifestyle?
  • How can I preserve my assets?

In retirement these remain very important questions and for some, they are being asked for the first time. While we still focus on creating personal wealth, our attention moves to the preservation of assets and investing them in line with your acceptance of risk so you have the best opportunity to create sufficient funds to support your desired lifestyle.

Even if you have never thought about financial planning advice in the past, working with an advisor now and developing a plan can help you maximise the benefits of your financial resources during your retirement years.

Take a look at this short light-hearted video for some great insights and advice.

It is important to have regular contact with your financial advisor for a periodic ‘health check’ of your retirement plan, to take into account any changed circumstances and ensure the plan in place still meets your needs.

The Right Advice

As a member of Count Financial, we can help you make the most of your assets in retirement and help generate the income you want while preserving your capital and minimising your tax. Your advisor can:

  • recommend an appropriate investment strategy to preserve funds in retirement.
  • take into consideration income from any other investments
  • advise you on the sale of any investments to support your income
  • discuss your retirement living and future aged care needs
  • discuss your estate planning

There are a number of options for how you derive an income in retirement including:

  • superannuation account based pensions
  • income from other investments
  • annuities
  • Centrelink and social security benefits

    • Our philosophy is simple. There are five essential building blocks for creating, managing and protecting your wealth and they go together like this:

    Save and invest + Grow your superannuation + Protect you and your wealth with insurance + Minimise debt + Minimise your tax.

    1. Saving and Investing

    2. Superannuation

    3. Insurance

    4. Debt

    5. Tax

    Centrelink Entitlements

    Self-funded retirement gives you greater choice and flexibility, but for a number of people Centrelink entitlements are a part of their retirement planning. The thresholds that trigger whether you are eligible for benefits or assistance are constantly changing, so engaging a skilled financial advisor means you can maximise your entitlements and opportunities.

    Even if you don’t qualify for a government funded pension, Centrelink can advise if you are eligible for other government benefits such as a Seniors’ Card and possibly a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.

    Protecting your wealth

    Protecting your wealth is never more important than in retirement when the probability of the unexpected increases and our ability to recover from any negative events decreases. In retirement insurance is an important building block of wealth protection and preservation. Some insurances need to be in place before you retire or reach 65 as after 65 you become ineligible to apply.

    Regular contact with your advisor is essential to make sure you have appropriate cover. Relying on the advice of friends or using a comparison web site to decide on an insurance product can leave your assets exposed should the unthinkable happen.

    Estate Planning: setting the strategy as to how you want your remaining wealth divided, held in trust or bequeathed after your death.
    You have worked hard for everything you have and will want to proactively plan for how it is divided or protected after you have passed away. Most people want to leave the remainder of their assets to their children and grandchildren but an astonishing 45% of people do not have a valid Will, which means you have no say in how your income and assets are handled after your death.

    Your financial advisor can discuss with you how you want your estate to be treated but Estate Planning and Wills are complex areas of the law and are handled by solicitors. The drafting of your Will is done by your chosen legal representative.

    You don’t need a large and valuable estate to put a plan in place and we are here to help you finalise this important matter.

    It is important to know that superannuation does not form part of your Will. Legislation in relation to how money is held in superannuation has recently changed so financial advice is helpful to avoid any unintended negative consequences for your beneficiaries.

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