financial / taxation advice for soon to be grey nomads
mr ed said
12:43 PM Jul 24, 2011
we are in the process of planning to become grey nomads next year and would like tips or advice on how to find an advisor in adelaide to plan for living the life style rather than retiring gracefully
-- Edited by mr ed on Sunday 24th of July 2011 01:12:53 PM
_wombat_ said
02:23 PM Jul 24, 2011
mr ed
don't go to an advisor they will charge you heaps, phone centrelink and ask for an appointment with their FIS officer.
rockylizard said
04:31 PM Jul 24, 2011
Gday...
Always wise to get advice from a Financial Planner and the CentreLink FIS is a very good place to start. They will give you good advice from 'pensioner' perspective which is very helpful and as previously stated, their fee is very good .. free.
Another very good place to get, usually, unbiased advice is from the bank you use mostly.
Any major bank is good value. They usually don't charge a fee and their advice is usually well-informed.
My personal advice is to get advice from three or more sources and see what they tell you and how to structure your 'future'. Then you will be in a better position to decide what suits you because you will be more informed than when you began.
Helps to put you in a bit of control and not at the mercy of their 'advice'.
Cheers
John
-- Edited by rockylizard on Sunday 24th of July 2011 04:32:19 PM
-- Edited by rockylizard on Sunday 24th of July 2011 04:33:13 PM
mr ed said
04:37 PM Jul 24, 2011
thanks all suggestions are more than welcome
cheers ed and fran
Cruising Granny said
05:50 PM Jul 24, 2011
Welcome to the forum Mr. Ed. You've opened your introduction with a very valid topic.
glassies said
06:55 PM Jul 24, 2011
wow thats a great ide i didnt know you can do that with centrelink hubby and i have been talking about what happens to uswhen we retire hes worked his but off and if we sold our business at 55 and used the money to retire on apparently we wont pay capital gains but then again some other person said yep but you gotta stick it in super and draw from it,im not real happy about that as you can lose your super .
its all very daunting to me so i think we should also go see centrelink when we finish working , and quiz them as to what we should do our first aim will be to get out of debt we would like to own our house before we retire so only about 350 thousand to go geesh i hope we have some good years ahead of us before he turns 55 to do that, but bearing in mind we do have a business for sale when we do decide to retire and that money will help pay the house off i hope.
_wombat_ said
08:01 PM Jul 24, 2011
glassies, you need to put your super into an annunity and draw down on it whenever you need to, centerlink will explain all of that, go to them about six months b4 you retire.
jimricho said
07:28 AM Jul 25, 2011
I can only endorse all the above suggestions about getting good professional advice....You could think about adding an accountant to the above....
Note especially the above suggestions about retiring debt free and planning ahead before retiring.
A few "well worn" clichés to keep in mind...
1. if it seems too good to be true..... it probably is.
2. don't put all your eggs in one basket.... diversification will help you ride out an economic downturn, also it will limit your loss if an investment turns sour.
3. don't invest in anything you don't understand, or don't know what it is or does.
rockylizard said
08:52 AM Jul 25, 2011
jimricho wrote:
........................................................SNIP..... 3. don't invest in anything you don't understand, or don't know what it is or does.
Gday...
That is good advice .... get a few 'opinions' and make sure they suit YOUR situation and what you want to do ..... and then as Jimricho sez ... make sure you understand what they are telling you ...... Like an old ad for a bank in Victoria .... "But it's still YOUR money"
Cheers
John
gordon_adl said
09:21 AM Jul 25, 2011
I'm very often thinking about retirement. I think I've spent hours and hours researching it.
The thing but frustrates me the most though is you can never get the same answer twice (from the pro's) regarding how much $$$ you should have and how to use it.
I've found the most financial advisors will just basically tell you to invest into mutual funds and things like that. Most are afffiliated with a bank even though they use a title of 'indepentant'. The independant just means they actually work for themselves but still only sell a certain banks products.
I think post retirement I should be OK...but still I am trying to get a better idea of what expenses will be and things like that.
I just wish I could find a very simple link or something that would tell me how much super a person should have depending on their age. IE..a 40yr old man should have 50K in super, a 50 should have 150K or whatever the amount they say. That way you can at least gauge yourself to the norm.
Benwerrin said
09:59 AM Jul 25, 2011
To retire on around $1000 pw and have a very 'safe; investment @ say 6.25%, you require around $750,000 to $800,000 in retirement funds.
-- Edited by Benwerrin on Monday 25th of July 2011 10:02:29 AM
Ma said
10:04 AM Jul 25, 2011
Whilst having loads of $$$ to retire on is the optimum aim of most of us, there are those that don't have any retirement funds for whatever reason.
Most of those non self sufficient people (I'm talking grey nomads here) seem to survive alright on what they have be it pension or small annuity.
Admittedly it would be a whole lot easier if we had a good income each week, but you do learn to appreciate what you have and live accordingly.
It all boils down to NEED -v- WANT
gordon_adl said
10:23 AM Jul 25, 2011
Not having a go at you Ben, but what are you basing this on?
Benwerrin wrote:
To retire on around $1000 pw and have a very 'safe; investment @ say 6.25%, you require around $750,000 to $800,000 in retirement funds.
-- Edited by Benwerrin on Monday 25th of July 2011 10:02:29 AM
gordon_adl said
10:25 AM Jul 25, 2011
Too true.
I think in a forum like this it can be a bit hard to really get proper personal advice as not too many people like to put out their personal financials out in an open forum.
Ma wrote:
It all boils down to NEED -v- WANT
Benwerrin said
10:34 AM Jul 25, 2011
Simple really, I am not retired but the bank pays me 6.25% on my savings, therefore I would need around $800,000 on retirement to earn about $1000 pw if deposited in the bank or another similar safety vehicle.
Do you disagree Gordon?
gordon_adl said
12:13 PM Jul 25, 2011
Your maths seem correct to me.
But I get concerned about what interest rates will be later. The simple fact is nobody really know. If they drop then you'd be getting much less than a $1000 per week. Also, not sure what the capitol gains tax would be on interest. Then there is the fact that the money is only insured for a certain amount, after that if the bank goes bust then the dollars are gone.
With all that said, I haven't done research on interest only retirement accounts.
rockylizard said
12:18 PM Jul 25, 2011
Gday...
Let's look at it this way.
1. Determine what you want to do when you retire - stay in the current home and travel part-time, sell the current home and downsize home and travel part-time, rent house out and travel full-time, sell current home and invest the money and travel full-time.
2. Against each of these scenarios, determine what you believe will be YOUR budget - actually write it down - or beter still if you can, use a spreadsheet. Be conservative - round costs/items UP - build in 'unknowns'. This should give you what you will need as a basic yearly/monthly/weekly "income".
3. Get copies/statements of your 'retirement nestegg' - super, bank acct, investments, (against the above scenarios if posible).
4. Take this with you to a financial planner - no matter whether CenterLink, bank or other.
5. Make sure they now address your lifestyle choice and asset strength to determine how best to configure your 'retirement investment' to provide the best income (and a bit of growth if possible) that let's you do what you want .... for how long you may want.
If armed with the above, you are more than half way there in getting your retirement 'affordability' figured out. The 'adviser' will factor in 'anticipated' returns against investment .... a good one will give a 'high', 'low' and 'expected' interest return.
Hopefully your current 'asset strength' will meet your retirement requirement budget.
Cheers
John
-- Edited by rockylizard on Monday 25th of July 2011 12:20:12 PM
Benwerrin said
12:52 PM Jul 25, 2011
Gordon, if any of our major banks go 'bust' we are all done and dusted.
gordon_adl said
01:37 PM Jul 25, 2011
In reviewing the idea of just keeping money in the bank and living on the interest...it does seem a bit flawed to me. This stragety doesn't seem to take into affect any inflation factors. Also, what happens if you need more money? IE a big operation or new vehicle? Then you take that money out to pay for it and then you're getting less interest becaue there is less money in the bank.
But again, it is certainly something to think about.
Cruising Granny said
01:48 PM Jul 25, 2011
Get a crystal ball. Talk to a psychic or fortune teller. You have to have a plan of what you're going to do after you retire. Travel, sit and read the paper, watch TV with bingo on Tuesdays, bowling on Saturdays, RSL for tea on Fridays. Camping or caravanning, caravan parks and/or free camping. Long term or short trips often or occasionally. If you own property you'll have ongoing rates maintenance and insurance to budget for. Medical benefits or just extras. Will you need a pension to top up your income? Will you have too much money to qualify for any pension? Any interest rate will be a bonus. Maybe estimate everything based on eg 4.25%. Anything higher than that will be a bonus. What will you lifestyle require? No one but you will know that. Have a plan, then consult a financial planner, private or at the bank, to paint a realistic picture. I thought I had enough for a couple of years travel until the GFC. I lost capital and interest in my managed fund. Until then I was just topping up my disability pensioner with the interest and I was doing ok. Not so.
Benwerrin said
01:56 PM Jul 25, 2011
Gordon, my example was just a picture of a fantasy income, ofcourse you would need to factor in all possibilities, if you recevived $1000 pw in interest, I would think that you would be able to live on say $700 to $800 pw with the rest acruing in your 'bank' for such happenings as operations, holidays replacements and repairs.
The return on investments is purely relative to what you invest and that return has to be calculated to cover all your living and future needs.
I have done all my calculations and have all these bases covered, all I have to do now, is find a buyer for my business.
-- Edited by Benwerrin on Monday 25th of July 2011 01:57:19 PM
gordon_adl said
02:26 PM Jul 25, 2011
What's your business?
Benwerrin wrote:
all I have to do now, is find a buyer for my business.
-- Edited by Benwerrin on Monday 25th of July 2011 01:57:19 PM
Benwerrin said
03:05 PM Jul 25, 2011
I am in the property industry.
Romy5152 said
05:49 PM Jul 25, 2011
John's suggestion seems to be a very sensible one to me. My hubby and I only recently had an appointment with our Banks' Financial Advisor re. retirement, as we didn't have the first clue about what to do. The first consultation with her was free of charge, but the second one (which won't happen until just before we are ready to actually retire), we will apparently be charged for. That's not going to be a problem in our case (not that we're loaded or anything - we're not, we're just both still working!) and feel it's money well spent. However, if finances are a problem and you're unsure about the ins and outs of a retirement plan that will suit you personally, Centrelink would be my best bet to get free advice.
mr ed said
07:15 PM Jul 25, 2011
Thank you all for your valuable suggestions. My wife and I are stiil in the workforce ( hopefully only another 12months ). You can never have too much info. This is my first post to this forum. Is it the subject or do most forums attract this ammount of interaction.
Thanks Ed and Fran
rockylizard said
07:21 PM Jul 25, 2011
Gday...
This is pretty normal ... we all try to help each other pretty much ... friendly, helpful (and some damned witty too)
Cheers
John
Ma said
08:31 PM Jul 25, 2011
Spot on rocky, any information shared is beneficial to somebody. Life experience is a grand thing
jimricho said
08:08 AM Jul 26, 2011
1. if it seems too good to be true..... it probably is.
2. don't put all your eggs in one basket.... diversification will help you ride out an economic downturn, also it will limit your loss if an investment turns sour.
3. don't invest in anything you don't understand, or don't know what it is or does.
None of this advice is in any way original on my part! In fact if I were given a dollar every time these adages were stated I could have probably retired on that alone!
If one had invested 10% of their savings in Storm Financial one would have lost 10% of their savings... Ouch!
If 100% ...more than just "Ouch!"
(Storm was a classic "too good to be true")
I think No 3 came from Warren Buffet, the world's most successful investor.
-- Edited by jimricho on Tuesday 26th of July 2011 08:09:15 AM
have a play with this planner. It is very informative and is owned by ASIC so is unbiased. There are plenty of them around just put retirement calculator into google.
we are in the process of planning to become grey nomads next year and would like tips or advice on how to find an advisor in adelaide to plan for living the life style rather than retiring gracefully
-- Edited by mr ed on Sunday 24th of July 2011 01:12:53 PM
don't go to an advisor they will charge you heaps, phone centrelink and ask for an appointment with their FIS officer.
Gday...
Always wise to get advice from a Financial Planner and the CentreLink FIS is a very good place to start. They will give you good advice from 'pensioner' perspective which is very helpful and as previously stated, their fee is very good
.. free.
Another very good place to get, usually, unbiased advice is from the bank you use mostly.
Any major bank is good value. They usually don't charge a fee and their advice is usually well-informed.
My personal advice is to get advice from three or more sources and see what they tell you and how to structure your 'future'. Then you will be in a better position to decide what suits you because you will be more informed than when you began.
Helps to put you in a bit of control and not at the mercy of their 'advice'.
Cheers
John
-- Edited by rockylizard on Sunday 24th of July 2011 04:32:19 PM
-- Edited by rockylizard on Sunday 24th of July 2011 04:33:13 PM
cheers
ed and fran
hes worked his but off and if we sold our business at 55 and used the money to retire on apparently we wont pay capital gains
but then again some other person said yep but you gotta stick it in super and draw from it,im not real happy about that as you can
lose your super .
its all very daunting to me so i think we should also go see centrelink when we finish working , and quiz them as to what we should do
our first aim will be to get out of debt we would like to own our house before we retire so only about 350 thousand to go geesh i hope
we have some good years ahead of us before he turns 55 to do that, but bearing in mind we do have a business for sale when we do
decide to retire and that money will help pay the house off i hope.
glassies, you need to put your super into an annunity and draw down on it whenever you need to, centerlink will explain all of that, go to them about six months b4 you retire.
Note especially the above suggestions about retiring debt free and planning ahead before retiring.
A few "well worn" clichés to keep in mind...
1. if it seems too good to be true..... it probably is.
2. don't put all your eggs in one basket.... diversification will help you ride out an economic downturn, also it will limit your loss if an investment turns sour.
3. don't invest in anything you don't understand, or don't know what it is or does.
Gday...
That is good advice .... get a few 'opinions' and make sure they suit YOUR situation and what you want to do ..... and then as Jimricho sez ... make sure you understand what they are telling you ...... Like an old ad for a bank in Victoria .... "But it's still YOUR money"
Cheers
John
The thing but frustrates me the most though is you can never get the same answer twice (from the pro's) regarding how much $$$ you should have and how to use it.
I've found the most financial advisors will just basically tell you to invest into mutual funds and things like that. Most are afffiliated with a bank even though they use a title of 'indepentant'. The independant just means they actually work for themselves but still only sell a certain banks products.
I think post retirement I should be OK...but still I am trying to get a better idea of what expenses will be and things like that.
I just wish I could find a very simple link or something that would tell me how much super a person should have depending on their age.
IE..a 40yr old man should have 50K in super, a 50 should have 150K or whatever the amount they say. That way you can at least gauge yourself to the norm.
To retire on around $1000 pw and have a very 'safe; investment @ say 6.25%, you require around $750,000 to $800,000 in retirement funds.
-- Edited by Benwerrin on Monday 25th of July 2011 10:02:29 AM
Whilst having loads of $$$ to retire on is the optimum aim of most of us, there are those that don't have any retirement funds for whatever reason.
Most of those non self sufficient people (I'm talking grey nomads here) seem to survive alright on what they have be it pension or small annuity.
Admittedly it would be a whole lot easier if we had a good income each week, but you do learn to appreciate what you have and live accordingly.
It all boils down to NEED -v- WANT
Simple really, I am not retired but the bank pays me 6.25% on my savings, therefore I would need around $800,000 on retirement to earn about $1000 pw if deposited in the bank or another similar safety vehicle.
Do you disagree Gordon?
But I get concerned about what interest rates will be later. The simple fact is nobody really know. If they drop then you'd be getting much less than a $1000 per week.
Also, not sure what the capitol gains tax would be on interest. Then there is the fact that the money is only insured for a certain amount, after that if the bank goes bust then the dollars are gone.
With all that said, I haven't done research on interest only retirement accounts.
Gday...
Let's look at it this way.
1. Determine what you want to do when you retire - stay in the current home and travel part-time, sell the current home and downsize home and travel part-time, rent house out and travel full-time, sell current home and invest the money and travel full-time.
2. Against each of these scenarios, determine what you believe will be YOUR budget - actually write it down - or beter still if you can, use a spreadsheet. Be conservative - round costs/items UP - build in 'unknowns'. This should give you what you will need as a basic yearly/monthly/weekly "income".
3. Get copies/statements of your 'retirement nestegg' - super, bank acct, investments, (against the above scenarios if posible).
4. Take this with you to a financial planner - no matter whether CenterLink, bank or other.
5. Make sure they now address your lifestyle choice and asset strength to determine how best to configure your 'retirement investment' to provide the best income (and a bit of growth if possible) that let's you do what you want .... for how long you may want.
If armed with the above, you are more than half way there in getting your retirement 'affordability' figured out. The 'adviser' will factor in 'anticipated' returns against investment .... a good one will give a 'high', 'low' and 'expected' interest return.
Hopefully your current 'asset strength' will meet your retirement requirement budget.
Cheers
John
-- Edited by rockylizard on Monday 25th of July 2011 12:20:12 PM
Gordon, if any of our major banks go 'bust' we are all done and dusted.
But again, it is certainly something to think about.
You have to have a plan of what you're going to do after you retire. Travel, sit and read the paper, watch TV with bingo on Tuesdays, bowling on Saturdays, RSL for tea on Fridays. Camping or caravanning, caravan parks and/or free camping. Long term or short trips often or occasionally.
If you own property you'll have ongoing rates maintenance and insurance to budget for. Medical benefits or just extras. Will you need a pension to top up your income? Will you have too much money to qualify for any pension?
Any interest rate will be a bonus. Maybe estimate everything based on eg 4.25%. Anything higher than that will be a bonus.
What will you lifestyle require? No one but you will know that.
Have a plan, then consult a financial planner, private or at the bank, to paint a realistic picture.
I thought I had enough for a couple of years travel until the GFC. I lost capital and interest in my managed fund. Until then I was just topping up my disability pensioner with the interest and I was doing ok. Not so.
Gordon, my example was just a picture of a fantasy income, ofcourse you would need to factor in all possibilities, if you recevived $1000 pw in interest, I would think that you would be able to live on say $700 to $800 pw with the rest acruing in your 'bank' for such happenings as operations, holidays replacements and repairs.
The return on investments is purely relative to what you invest and that return has to be calculated to cover all your living and future needs.
I have done all my calculations and have all these bases covered, all I have to do now, is find a buyer for my business.
-- Edited by Benwerrin on Monday 25th of July 2011 01:57:19 PM
I am in the property industry.
Thanks
Ed and Fran
Gday...
This is pretty normal
... we all try to help each other pretty much ... friendly, helpful (and some damned witty too
)
Cheers
John
Spot on rocky, any information shared is beneficial to somebody. Life experience is a grand thing
None of this advice is in any way original on my part! In fact if I were given a dollar every time these adages were stated I could have probably retired on that alone!
If one had invested 10% of their savings in Storm Financial one would have lost 10% of their savings... Ouch!
If 100% ...more than just "Ouch!"
(Storm was a classic "too good to be true")
I think No 3 came from Warren Buffet, the world's most successful investor.
-- Edited by jimricho on Tuesday 26th of July 2011 08:09:15 AM
have a play with this planner. It is very informative and is owned by ASIC so is unbiased. There are plenty of them around just put retirement calculator into google.
macca