Creating a retirement plan begins with determining your long-term financial goals and tolerance for risk, and then starting to take action to reach those goals. The process can begin anytime during your working years, but the earlier, the better.
Make a retirement plan
- Timing — when you want to retire
- Lifestyle and priorities
- Income and living costs
- Plan for the future
Work out your living costs
- Housing
- Utilities
- Food
- Clothing and household goods
- Health and leisure
- Transport
Claim government benefits
From age 67 (or earlier, if born before 1957), you may be eligible for government benefits such as:
Age Pension
The main income support payment for people who have reached Age
Pensioner concessions
These concessions are available through the Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) and the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC).
Health care benefits
The individual pays a premium to the insurer and the insurer offers financial protection against healthcare expenses to the individual in return.
Tax offsets
Check whether you will receive a tax offset and how to calculate it. About tax offsets Find out how tax offsets can reduce the tax you pay.
FAQs
Retirement planning is the process of setting financial goals and creating a strategy to achieve them before and during retirement.
The 7 percent rule is a key concept in retirement planning that suggests you can withdraw 7 percent of your retirement savings annually without running out of funds
Retirement planning is a step-by-step process that involves evaluation of your financial goals, risk appetite, existing savings, current income & expenses and possible investment avenues that can help you achieve you financial goals post retirement.
What are the first steps of retirement planning? Assessing your financial situation, identifying goals, and making an actionable plan are key first steps in retirement planning.