Retirement Planning for Couples with an Age Gap: 5 Conversations You Need to Have

Retirement Planning for Couples with an Age Gap: 5 Conversations You Need to Have

Updated on Budgeting, Finance, Retirement

Planning for retirement can be challenging enough, but when there’s a significant age difference between partners, it adds another layer of complexity.  Different life stages often mean differing priorities, timelines, energy levels and financial needs. But with thoughtful planning and open communication, it’s possible to build a retirement that is secure and fulfilling for both partners.  By having honest and meaningful conversations, you can uncover each other’s hopes, concerns, and goals, creating a retirement plan that feels balanced and fulfilling for both partners. The following prompts are designed to spark deeper, more meaningful discussions, helping you align your visions for the future and tackle potential challenges head-on. 1. What Does a Happy Retirement Look Like for Each of Us? Do you see yourself travelling the world, pursuing hobbies, or simply enjoying quiet days at home? Take some time to write down your individual goals, dreams, and non-negotiables. Share your lists, identify where they align, and discuss how to balance differing aspirations. The goal is to create a shared vision that respects and supports both partners’ priorities. 2. When Should Each of Us Retire? If one partner is ready to retire but the other is still building their career, it’s essential to plan for a phased approach. Discuss your ideal retirement dates and explore potential working arrangements. Can the older partner delay retirement slightly? Does the younger partner have long service leave entitlements or options for flexible or remote work? By planning your timelines together, you can find creative solutions to balance individual goals while making the most of the time you’ll share in retirement. 3. How Will We Stay Connected While at Different Life Stages? When one partner retires while the other continues working, it can disrupt routines, create imbalances, and make maintaining a connection challenging.  Talk about how you’ll maintain your sense of partnership and shared purpose during this transition. Discuss activities you both enjoy and schedule regular time to share them. By prioritising connection and shared goals, you can maintain a sense of partnership and navigate this transition together. 4. How Do We Balance Our Different Energy and Mobility Levels? An age gap often means one partner has more energy or mobility than the other, which can impact your activities and lifestyle choices. Talk about how this difference will shape your travel plans, daily routines, and shared activities as you age. Should you prioritise physically demanding activities, like overseas travel, now? Would investing in a home designed for aging in place benefit you both in the long run? By addressing these concerns early, you can create a lifestyle that ensures you enjoy your time together, regardless of age or mobility changes. 5. What Are Our Greatest Fears About Retirement? Do you worry about financial insecurity, health challenges, or the possibility of loneliness in retirement? Take some time to reflect on and write down your individual fears or concerns. Share them with your partner and discuss how these worries can be addressed through planning or support. The goal is to foster empathy and understanding while building a retirement plan that alleviates these concerns for both of you. … Retirement planning isn’t just about numbers and timelines—it’s about understanding and aligning your dreams, priorities, and concerns as a couple.  These five conversation prompts are a starting point to help you navigate the unique challenges of retirement planning when there’s an age gap. By taking the time to discuss your needs openly, you can begin putting in place a plan that optimises your timelines, finances, and lifestyle choices. If you’re not sure where to start, a financial adviser can help you develop a strategy tailored to your unique circumstances, ensuring a secure and fulfilling retirement. The information provided in this article is general in nature only and does not constitute personal financial advice.  

Building financial resilience 

Building financial resilience 

Updated on Budgeting, Education, Finance, Investing

Resilience is the ability to quickly recover from setbacks, and while setbacks can come in many forms most of them will have a financial component. So what can you do to build financial resilience?  Expect the unexpected  Rarely do we get advance warning that something bad is about to happen to us, so the time to develop your resilience strategy is now. And while we don’t know the specifics, we can anticipate events that would throw our finances into disarray. A house burning down or a car being stolen. Not being able to work due to illness or injury. The death of a breadwinner or caregiver.   With some idea of the type of threat we face we may be able to insure against some of them. If you have taken out any type of insurance policy you’ve already made a start on your resilience plan.  Create buffers  You can’t insure against every possibility, but you can build financial buffers. This might simply be a savings account that you earmark as your emergency fund that you contribute to each payday. If your home loan offers a redraw facility you can also create a buffer by getting ahead on your mortgage repayments.   Buffers can be particularly important for retirees drawing a pension from their super fund. Redeeming growth assets for cash in order to make pension payments during a market downturn can lead to a depletion of capital and reduction in how long the money will last. By maintaining a cash buffer of, say, two year’s worth of pension payments, redemptions of growth assets can be deferred, giving time for the market to recover.  Cut costs  The Internet abounds with tips on how to cut costs and save money. In difficult economic times cost cutting can help you maintain your financial buffers and important insurances.   Key to cost cutting is tracking your income and expenditure and yes, that means doing a budget. Find the right budgeting app for you and this chore could actually be fun.  Invest in quality  There are many companies out there that have long track records of consistently pumping out profits and dividends. They may not be as exciting (i.e. volatile) as the latest techno fad stocks but when markets get the jitters these blue chip companies are more likely to maintain their value than the newcomers.  This is important. The more volatile a portfolio the more likely an investor is to sell down into a declining market. This turns paper losses into real ones, depriving the investor the opportunity to ride the market back up again.  The other key tool in creating resilient portfolios is diversification. Buying a range of investments both within and across the major asset classes is a fundamental strategy for managing portfolio volatility.  With a well-diversified portfolio of quality assets there is less need to regularly buy and sell individual investments. Unnecessary trading can create ‘tax drag’ where the realisation of even a marginal   capital gain triggers a capital gains tax event and consequent reduction in portfolio value.  Take advice  Building financial resilience can be a complicated process requiring an understanding of a range of issues that need to be balanced against one another and prioritised. Your financial planner is ideally placed to assist you in developing your own, personalised plan for financial resilience.   The information provided in this article is general in nature only and does not constitute personal financial advice.  

The challenges of being a Carer

The challenges of being a Carer

Updated on Aged Care, Budgeting, Centrelink

Caring for a loved one can be deeply fulfilling but brings its fair share of challenges too – as Laura discovered.   When her mother Shelly had a stroke, she didn’t require a nursing facility, but could no longer live alone.   Laura was working part-time while studying a Bachelor of Dental Surgery and dreaming of one day opening her own boutique dental practice. She assumed that moving home to care for Shelly wouldn’t greatly affect her career plans, and, in fact, giving up her rental accommodation would save money.  Unfortunately however, Shelly had had to quit work so the pair only had Laura’s wages to live on. Yet the bills kept coming in, and on top of everyday living costs, expenses such as medicines, transportation and modifications to the home soon added up.  Additionally, helping Shelly attend medical appointments and assisting with errands put Laura behind in her studies. Since Shelly’s condition was not going to improve, Laura deferred her course; telling friends she’d return later.  A great emotional weight settled on Laura’s shoulders as she automatically prioritised her mother’s day-to-day needs above her own.  As expected, Shelly’s condition worsened. Medical sessions often clashed with Laura’s work commitments leaving her no option but to give up her job as well.  While expecting to support her mum physically and emotionally, Laura wasn’t prepared for the financial hit.  Fortunately, the Australian government offers a range of financial assistance packages, such as:  Applicants must meet prescribed criteria and the amount of payment varies depending on the situation.  The Government website www.servicesaustralia.gov.au contains a wealth of information for carers, including eligibility criteria, entitlement estimation calculators and information on how to claim.  Shelly’s doctor provided program leaflets and additional details, and helped Laura gather the medical paperwork and other relevant documents.  For Laura, giving up her job impacted more than just her finances. Having already lost friends after too many declined invitations, she now lost her last source of social interaction.   Resigning herself to a life of care, Laura abandoned all thought of returning to university, along with her dreams for the future.  It was around this time that Laura discovered Carer Gateway www.carergateway.gov.au and Carers Australia www.carersaustralia.com.au.   These websites provided valuable carer resources, information and assistance services. While recognising that financial relief was crucial, their emphasis was on the relevance of self-care, urging carers not to underestimate the importance of their own well-being, particularly their physical and mental health.  Laura found a community of people who understood her situation, and a network of support groups, counselling services and respite programs encouraging carers to balance their care-giving responsibilities with their own needs.   One of Laura’s new friends suggested she seek legal advice around Powers of Attorney, and a financial adviser specialising in estate planning for both her own and Shelly’s peace of mind.  These days Laura says she feels the world opening up as the silence around caregiving is broken. With her mother’s illness, her life took an unexpected turn, yet it has expanded in other ways. Laura’s future is looking brighter; she has even enrolled in an online dental assistant course.  Not exactly what she’d originally planned, it’s nevertheless a pathway to her own future, and more than that, she’s daring to dream again.  The information provided in this article is general in nature only and does not constitute personal financial advice.  

Roadmap to retiring young

Roadmap to retiring young

Updated on Budgeting, Retirement

The dream of retiring young is one that captivates many peoples’ imaginations. The freedom to live life on your own terms, doing what you want, when you want is undeniably appealing, but is it attainable? We say yes! It doesn’t just happen, though. As with any goal, it takes planning and dedication along with a clear understanding of when and how you expect to achieve that goal. Early retirement, as a concept, means different things to different people. Therefore, the first step on the road to your early retirement is to be clear about what it will look like, starting with: With an understanding of what retirement means to you, you can begin the process of charting a course to achieving it. Develop a roadmap to early retirement by considering: Attaining any financial goal requires discipline. Coach yourself to say ‘no’ to indulgences in the present, remembering that with the right roadmap and financial know-how, you really can make your dream of early retirement come true. The information provided in this article is general in nature only and does not constitute personal financial advice.  

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