The right advice at the right time can be invaluable. Sometimes it is just a little help to solve a nagging problem. Other times, it’s just to confirm your decisions. Or it might be to unlock and explain the myriad of rules that apply, and...
Retirement Advice Articles
Could an inheritance affect your entitlements?
It depends on how you use it Linda and Helen are sisters in their early 70s. They both live in their own separate homes and receive the full Age Pension entitlement. Neither has a mortgage. Their uncle died recently and they were both surprised to receive...
Finding your Diamonds*
It’s simpler than you think Can you find the acres of diamonds in your own backyard? About 150 years ago, a famous American author and orator began touring the country with a speech called Acres of Diamonds, which enthralled huge audiences. Russell...
Making smart and informed financial decisions
What’s important to you? Hi, I’m Amanda - one of the financial advisers at Retirement Essentials, and I’m here to make sense of what can sometimes feel like a whirlwind of financial decisions in retirement. I understand that money can be a complicated...
Funeral gardening: Time to get started!
Most of us are really squeamish about the word ‘death’ – we run a mile from it. Similarly with the term ‘funeral’ – it’s difficult to bring ourselves to read articles about planning for our own demise. We’re more interested in living, than dying, right? But...
Ten principles to retire by
Over the past few months, we’ve shared a set of 10 principles of retirement, designed to help you grasp the key topics in planning your retirement financing. Here’s a case study of how a client couple went about getting their retirement sorted…and how...
Retirement makeover: Sharon finds an extra $50,000
Often when calculating retirement income, we make assumptions that are simply wrong. This is not necessarily caused by any lack of financial literacy. It’s because the rules can be less than obvious and no matter how much research we do, we can still miss...
Drowning in debt
When advice helps turn things around When Andrew Dunkerley first met Jim and Alice* he was concerned that there might be little he could do to help them achieve a reasonable retirement income. That was because they had more than $100,000 in credit card debt...
Approaching 66 -70? Key decision-making time
This is the second part of a two-part article which defines the key decisions you will face as you move through your 60s. Last week Gary pointed out that 65 is not Age Pension age – he is, of course, correct – but we are recommending you consider key trigger...