Now that your ‘working to earn a living’ years are (almost) behind you, you may be looking forward to enjoying your retirement. Unfortunately, many of those for whom retirement is near face a retirement shortfall. One way to close the gap is to become savvy with your super – its growth and access. You may wish to consider the following:
1. Protect your super
Consider protecting your super by moving your investments to more conservative options, but which still allow for adequate growth. The key to this is to understand your super risk profile.
2. Outsmart inflation
While investing conservatively may be safe, it’s important to be aware of the impact of inflation on your spending power. Keeping your savings in super may help to protect your buying power over the long term if you’ve invested in the right option – by enabling your investment to grow and outweigh hikes in inflation.
3. Access super cleverly
When eligible, you have a number of ways to access your super. But what’s the best way? That depends on your needs. For some, taking a lump sum may work, but for many it may be wise to keep most of your super invested so it can still grow and add to the retirement nest egg. However, you also need to consider the tax and social security benefit implications of leaving your money in super.
A retirement income stream can be a flexible and tax effective option.
To find out what best works for you, seek out an accredited financial planner for advice. Just make sure you choose one wisely.