Planning My Retirement: Finances

Planning retirement options at 60 can be limited, if you really start from scratch.  Various Aussie retirement programs indicate a higher yield on savings and investments , taken out by those who started planning earlier, because compound interest  paid off to their advantage.

Assuming that you have taken out some forms of investment portfolios, or some saving programs while working, here are some tips on how to stretch them as far as they can go.  Again, the options we have are now limited, but we can still do something about them, right?

Seek part-time jobs or put up a business.

Yes, you still can.  Don’t give up on becoming useful.  You have the advantage your youth didn’t have and that is, experience.   You know more now than you did, 20 years ago.  Capitalize on the skills you learned, the trainings and seminars you attended, the stored information you gathered from your experiences and put them up for others to benefit from – for a fee.

Options:  a vocational training program for the youth, literacy center, daycare center (with an assistant, of course)  write for a magazine or newspaper on freelance, write books, start a consultancy firm. etc

Don’t allow your age or your false impression of retirement stifle your chances of becoming the next  Colonel Harland Sanders, who at 65, and living on a meager $105  per month social security retirement check, put up one of the world’s largest fried chicken company – the Kentucky Fried Chicken you know today!

He did that when he decided that retirement is definitely not his “end” but his fresh beginning. 

Start living simply.

“Been there, done that”.   It is now time to let go of a frivolous lifestyle which your knees may no longer afford, anyway, and start living simply.   If you are living in a spacious home, you may consider the option of renting it out, and settle on a simple but decent home in an area in Australia that has a lower cost of living.

Put a cap on withdrawals.

Allow your pensions, annuities and savings grow.  Control withdrawals to only 5% of your total retirement savings account per year, after all, your part-time jobs can answer for your daily needs.  Save your savings on truly “rainy days” like a health concern.

PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT EARLY.   Luckily for those who hit off with the idea of  planning for their retirement program, while still young and employed, here are some tips you can explore:

• Save, save, save. 

Underscore,  highlight, and print it in bold letters across your bathroom mirror, your computer monitor, your refrigerator’s door.  The reason is obvious:  when you save early and continue building on it, year after year, compound interest will work for you and not against you.  This is the easiest way to becoming rich. You can find a financial adviser in your area, to help lay things out for you.

• Visualize.   

How do you want to see yourself on retirement? What are the things you want to do, learn and explore during those years?

Assess your present situation and find out how far you are from your goal.  “The shortest way between two points is a straight line”.  Create your action plans today and marshal them towards your retirement goals.

• Become part of Australia’s Retirement Programs designed for employees.

• Think about shares and bonds - and perhaps get professional advice like stock tips. 

• Learn Saving Options

Learn what you can about these saving options.   Investing in stocks for longer periods can bring-in higher returns.

• Create an investment portfolio with a diversified risk profile including low risk investments like term deposits and high risk high return investements like cfd's and options..  

Consult a financial advisor or an accountant  to design an investment portfolio which you can afford to maintain.

Get some advice from professionals such as Life Broker to get the most relevant information on income protection insurance and life insurance suitable for your personal retirement needs.

“Saving the best for last…” as the lyrics of one popular song goes, your retirement can be your “swan song”.  It is a time to accomplish some dreams you stashed at the back burner of your mind.   It is also a time to be with people you wish to see but could not when you were still on a daily grind at the office.  It is a time to contemplate on life itself, and on how you lived it In short, it is a time you save for the best   -  yourself.