It’s never too late to get the right advice

Receiving financial advice from an expert could change your life and give you the peace of mind only a well-constructed plan can bring. A financial adviser may assist in maximising your retirement income and plan a better retirement lifestyle for you.

Australians are living longer than ever. A man finishing work at 65 in 2011-2013 could expect to be retired for more than 19 years, rising to 22 years for women[1]. It’s important to have enough saved up to last the distance.  Yet quite often not until our 50s or later that we start seriously saving for retirement.

It is never too late to improve your financial situation and make much better use of what you already have.

With advice, you can find out about strategies that you can put in place in the final years before retirement. So your financial situation can improve.

Planning ahead

The ideal situation is where your wealth continues to grow in retirement, but not all of us can be in that situation. This is where a financial adviser comes in.

One of the most important things a financial adviser can do is to help you understand how much income you’ll need in retirement and the total amount to provide for that income.

While people retire from paid employment, they don’t retire from life.  And a longer healthier life means people will be doing more things and thus need greater financial resources.

Maximising retirement savings

Investors in their 50s and 60s have a number of ways to build their retirement wealth but super in a high tax country like Australia, is often the most tax effective way.

By using a transition to retirement strategy, where salary sacrificing of before-tax income into the super account and then using income from the super pension to live on, investors can reduce the tax they pay and direct more money back to their super fund.

Recovering from the GFC

It is often that the lead up to retirement is an important and most crucial time to see a financial adviser— especially in the wake of the GFC.

Advice after retirement

With 20 years or more in retirement, getting ready to leave the workforce is only the first step it is also essential to receive ongoing advice after you’ve left work for good.

Constant changes to super rules can also be dangerously confusing without the right advice.
The ongoing changes and regulatory proposals may have a significant impact on your wealth and thus it is even more crucial to consider meeting a financial adviser.

[1] http://www.aihw.gov.au/deaths/life-expectancy/