Embrace your retirement potential
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Making your retirement years count
If retirement is on your mind, how does it make you feel? Excited. Nervous. Daunted. All of the above.
If you have mixed feelings about retirement, you’re not alone. That’s because some people are unsure of what their life after work will look like… and if they’ll be ready. Will I have enough money? What are the choices I really have? Will I find a new purpose? How do I make sure my retirement years are secure and fulfilling?
As Head of Advice and a Partner at Tribeca, Rob Devlin relishes answering these big questions – and most importantly – giving people the confidence of knowing they can really make their retirement years count.
On Tribeca’s Money & a Good Life podcast, Rob shared his insights on how to live your Good Life in retirement. He had so many great things to say, we asked him to summarise the key takeaways in the article below.
Over to you Rob…
Retirement potential
Most people underestimate how much money they will have and what they will do in retirement. At Tribeca we start with what you want to do, not how much money do you want to last. That covers things like: How do you want to live? Who do you want to live with? Where do you want to live? Are you going to do a downsize or right size? Then we start to line that up with the dollars and cents.
This leads to factoring in aspects that may supplement retirement savings like the potential of doing a bit of casual work, when the age pension might kick in, downsizing. When you start to put all those things on the table the client can see what retirement may really look like. And it’s potential.
Spend more
The amount of conversations we have with clients around spending more or spending less would be 20:1. That’s 20:1 on spending more. We sit down and show 20 or 30 year projections that you’re going to have more than enough money to live into your 90s. Our message is typically live and enjoy your life now and go for it. It’s very rare that we would be telling someone on your current trajectory you’re going to run out of money in your late 70s.
It’s why we talk about retirement as like taking a 20-year holiday. We’ll make sure that money will last and your goals are reasonable and there’s a buffer built in there, but you go out and do what you want to do
Live your Good Life.
Open conversations
Often it’s the worry of the unknown that stops people and couples having conversations about retirement.
“What does my partner want? What kind of retirement are they looking for?” It’s surprising how few people have that conversation, and then don’t know what their expectations are.
“Are we going travelling every year? Are we joining a new golf club? Are we doing some volunteer work?” It’s as much about these conversations as it is about dollars and cents.
This then leads to healthy conversations around redefining your purpose and goals in retirement.
Goal setting
The most common goal retirees talk of is that they simply want to continue living like they’re living now. They want to keep going out with friends, help their children out when they can, go on some holidays (maybe now some longer ones); knowing that they can do this without having a steady income.
Of course retirement is a big mental shift. There’s always a period of transition moving into retirement, as people need to redefine their goals and purpose. Settling into a new way of life. But what I’ve found is people tend to work this out pretty quickly and it’s not as daunting as it sounds. Our role is to really open up people’s minds and imagination about what is possible. To not think of retirement as a finishing point, but as a time of new beginnings. It’s changing the mindset to financial retirement – that it’s not finite. You may not be working for money anymore, but you’re working on filling your life with really meaningful and purposeful activities.
Lots of people take up languages, volunteering, casual work such as working at Bunnings or driving courtesy buses, looking after grandchildren, golf, musical instruments, or being heavily involved in the community. I’ve never come across a client who is bored in retirement. I’m jealous of most of my clients and how they live their days.
Now rather
than later
Speaking to a financial adviser doesn’t just help put people’s minds at ease, it empowers them to look forward to retirement. It’s mainly about bringing those conversations to the surface, showing what’s possible, and letting them go away and make those decisions.
Often our clients didn’t realise that they could be finishing up work a lot sooner than they think. That’s the best email to receive post an appointment, when they are thanking us for taking a weight of their shoulders.
By far it’s the most meaningful thing we can do as a financial advisor.
If you would like to discuss your retirement plans or any aspect of your financial situation, call Tribeca on 1300 388 285, or book in a free ‘getting to know you’ phone call here.
Seek advice
Speaking to a financial adviser doesn’t just help put people’s minds at ease, it empowers them to look forward to retirement. It’s mainly about bringing those conversations to the surface, showing what’s possible, and letting them go away and make those decisions.
Often our clients didn’t realise that they could be finishing up work a lot sooner than they think. That’s the best email to receive post an appointment, when they are thanking us for taking a weight of their shoulders.
By far it’s the most meaningful thing we can do as a financial advisor.
If you would like to discuss your retirement plans or any aspect of your financial situation, call Tribeca on 1300 388 285, email advice@tribecafinancial.com.au, or book in a free ‘getting to know you’ phone call here.
As Head of Advice and a Partner at Tribeca, Rob epitomises our Good Life approach. He gains the greatest buzz from giving his clients the clarity, tools and guidance they need to reach their goals and live life to the fullest. He loves the strategy of advice, particularly in exploring and forging new ways of thinking throughout the business such as in the retirement, investment and SMSF space. As a natural leader, when Rob believes in something he’s all in, leading him to become partner of Tribeca. This passion and energy for his work is more than matched by his dedication to his young family at home and living a Good Life.