Life stages – Retirement- How much is enough?
- Make a sacrifice
- Make the transition
- Equity and how to use it
Life stages – Retirement
You may be on top with many of life’s responsibilities; the children have lives of their own and now you’re looking at overseas holidays, watching your grandchildren grow and keeping an eye on your investments.
Retirement is on the horizon. You can look forward to diminishing expenditure as children leave home, mortgages are reduced or paid-off and you are experiencing your peak income earning age.
Your likely priorities at a glance:
- When to retire?
- How to correctly fund your retirement
- Superannuation is a priority
- Best use of home equity
How much is enough?
Can you believe having a budget at the end of your working life is as important as the start? Knowing what you will need to maintain and live a comfortable lifestyle is the first step of knowing what we will need to provide for your retirement. It is estimated a retired couple who own their home will require $55,000 p.a. to live a comfortable lifestyle.
The Australian age pension (if you are eligible) is only $31,689 p.a.
Make a sacrifice
Now’s the time to look at tax-effectively boosting your super savings. Salary sacrificing could be just the fuel you’re looking for.Consider drawing on other investments to supplement your income so you can sacrifice even more.
Equity and how to use it
By now you have probably built some equity in your home or investment portfolio. You can consider borrowing against this equity to invest.
While the tax-effectiveness of gearing can appeal, you need to be confident about the strength and long-term growth of the underlying investment and comfortable with the risks associated with gearing. You should consider the tax deductions as an added benefit.