55 – 65 Year Old
The thought of retirement is now a reality at the front of your thoughts it is a matter of “when” not “if”. You are winding down your career and maybe looking for less stressful avenues of work or focusing more on your interests, the kids have grown up and hopefully their the bills have stopped.
This stage of life is akin to the fourth round of a golf tournament you are going down the “stretch”, it’s serious. Your decisions at this stage will seriously impact upon whether you are going to get where you need to be and there is no time for mistakes.
To be financially secure you need two objectives to be satisfied;
- You need to own your house
- You need a passive income stream form your investments.
Where is your retirement income coming from?
Superannuation – The Hidden Gem
Superannuation not only provides you with tax effectiveness solutions but the perfect platform to undertake a long term investment strategy required to fund your retirement income for the next 20-30 years.
Self Managed Superannuation – The Rolls Royce
Undoubtedly, the best vehicle for superannuation to be held and once a family has about $150,000 in aggregate monies it becomes cost effective. We can utilise strategies inside these funds that are not possible in a retail or industry fund environment.
Some of the reasons why we utilise Self managed Superannuation is as follows;
- Be able to control and be actively involved in the investment decisions in relation to your superannuation fund,
- Have the option of investing in particular types of assets not commonly available through other types of superannuation structures such as warrants and direct property. We can also use gearing (or borrowed money) to purchase these assets which will magnify returns over the long term.
- Have flexibility in structuring of the payment of superannuation benefits to others in the event of death,
- Be able to transfer existing investments that you hold into the superannuation environment,
- Accumulate savings for your retirement in a tax effective manner,
- Achieve cost savings in the ongoing management and administration of your superannuation savings,
- Given the share market volatility over the last couple of years, opportunities have never been so prevalent. We can invest in a portfolio of shares and the income stream from this portfolio will be far greater than previously. This is a once in generational opportunity don’t miss out a sit can set you up for the next 20-30 years.
Tax Minimisation
What do you think is your largest household expense?
Now, look at your group certificate from last year and see how much tax you paid?
We need to incorporate a strategy to ensure we are only paying the required amount of tax. Interestingly, the tax system encourages individuals to utilise superannuation so if done properly we can attain a tax break and reduce that scary number.
Estate Planning - What Will Happen?
Another realisation is that after seeing friends or family members suffer serious medical conditions you understand the concept of mortality unlike when you were 21 years old and 10 foot tall.
What will happen you should you lose your mental capacity or who would look after the affairs for your partner should you die or become unable to function?
The estate planning process is a key component of the overall financial plan. However, for estate planning to be effective it must be addressed well before death. This will ensure that there are sufficient assets on your death to be distributed to the appropriate people at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner, as chosen by you. Your estate planning needs should be reviewed regularly to ensure that your plan accurately reflects your current circumstances.
Helping the Kids
I feel obliged or indeed want to help the kids get started. How can I help them but still do what I need to do?
