There are many challenges associated with planning retirement and retirement income. Over the years, we’ve highlighted lots of ways to tackle them one by one. But the ‘fear of running out’ (FORO) remains the main concern for many older Australians. And recent updates on the state of indebtedness of those heading into retirement just adds to the sense of pressure on retirees. Today we unpack the subject of debt and retirement and suggest different ways to handle it.
Over the summer break we’ve taken the time to spell out the details of some of the main ways you can maximise your retirement income. We started with a simple explainer of the Age Pension, then superannuation, the new Work Bonus rules and now this week, we have an update on concessions cards.
Yes, this is a topic we have written on quite a few times before, but we continue to be surprised by how many Retirement Essentials members are missing out on savings because they either didn’t know about these cards, or didn’t know how to get started.
The good news is that our team is able to support you to gain access to the two main money savers – the Pension Concession Card and the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card. Other cards are also available; we’ll explain how you can get them as well.
Adviser Megan Marshall recently met with Gary and Monica who have retired. They’ll soon qualify for an Age Pension but want to know whether a renovation or downsizing their home is the smarter financial strategy. Talking them through the rules and the likely effect either decision would have on their retirement income made Megan realise that this dilemma was worth sharing with all our members.
We spoke with her just before Christmas to get a little more background on the work she does in strategy consultations.
‘What I love the most is helping people understand how to retire comfortably. It’s all about clarification and information, which gives them the confidence to understand their options. Most people come to us with a clear sense of purpose. They just want some bite-sized advice to meet their current needs, not necessarily a complicated ‘whole of life’ plan. We offer great value, with full transparency of fees. We charge a fee for consultations; consultations that are targeted to solving specific issues which frequently arise in the lives of retirees. Things like paying down a mortgage, or better understanding superannuation options, or using downsizer contributions.
‘The fact that we can help them understand the rules, ranging across tax, Centrelink and superannuation, and how intertwined they are, is very satisfying. We take out the jargon and demystify information which may be spread across five pages of the Services Australia website! That’s what I love about what I do. Problem solving!’
Back to Gary and Monica and how they were guided through their options…