However, the decision to retire early from your job comes with a cost. You need to plan and plan well to ensure that your life in retirement is secure. If you are thinking of early retirement, we have a handy retirement guide for you. We have rounded up some of the things you should do an ideal early retirement.  

1. Define Your Early retirement 

The first and most important thing is defining your early retirement. Every early retirement plan is different depending on what you are planning to do with your retirement life. If you are planning to exit the workforce to travel the world, then your early retirement plan will be different from a person planning to venture into another career. So, you need to understand and define the reason for your early retirement first. From there, it will be easy to create a perfect plan that factors all aspects of your dream retirement. 

2. Create A Retirement Plan 

After defining your early retirement, the second thing should be creating a retirement plan. A good plan should enable you to save up enough money to take care of you for the rest of your life. There are several things that you need to consider when it comes to creating a perfect retirement plan. First, the plan must consider the target retirement age. If you want to retire at 45, you need a different plan from someone retiring at 55 years. Your estimated life expectancy is also an important factor to consider when creating a retirement plan. Consider checking retirement age Australia calculator to help you estimate a perfect plan for your early retirement.

3. Reduce Your Spending 

For your early retirement plans to be successful, then you need to save extra money. The best way to achieve this is to buy cutting your expenses to the lowest figure possible. Living below your means will help achieve your saving goals faster. You may not need to buy the latest car model in the market since the current model is cheaper and still doing fine. You can also opt to live in an inexpensive neighbourhood so that you can achieve your saving goals. Make sure that you are always adjusting your budget to remove unnecessary spending and put this money towards saving. 

4. Find Ways Boost Your Income 

If you are planning to exit the workforce early, maybe at the age of 45, then your current job may not be enough to provide saving that you need for your retirement life. That’s why looking for other revenue sources to boost your income is a brilliant idea. There are a number of ways that you can achieve this. First, you can work overtime if your job allows it. The second thing you can do is taking up gigs during your free time. You might also look for a better paying employer. Last but not least, start a side hustle. 

5. Pay Off Debt 

The biggest mistake you can make when planning an early retirement Australia is failing to pay off debts. Debts eat into your income and thus making it impossible to maximise your savings. If you go to retirement with debts, then that becomes a huge problem as you will be servicing debts using your retirement saving. So, pay off all high-interest credit card debts if you have any to help you save more money for retirement. Try the best you can to live below your means to help you avoid getting into debts. 

6. Pay off the Mortgage 

The other things you need to take seriously is the issue of the mortgage. If you have a mortgage, you need to find a way that you can clear it before retiring. You can’t afford to go to retirement if you still have some debts to pay. Besides, you need your own home, not rentals when on retirement because anything can happen. Your money might get depleted faster than you had expected. If you get yourself in such situations, then you need to have at least a home where you can be in peace. So, pay off your mortgage before exiting gainful employment. 

7. Invest! Invest! Invest! 

There are many investment plans that you can exploit in Australia. The trick is to put your money where it is safe, and interests are a guarantee. Otherwise, you might lose your money and have your early retirement plans collapse. For instance, you can put your money in government bonds. This is one of the smartest and safest investment ideas since income is a guarantee. You can also invest in shares for established companies as well as corporate bonds for promising projects. However, seek expert advice when planning to invest for early retirement purposes. 

8. Make a Backup Plan 

It is always wise to a back plan for your early retirement. Not all plans come to fruition since things can go wrong along the way. What if you lose your job? Or what would happen if the employer winds up the company? These are factors that are sometimes beyond our control. So, check the worst-case scenarios and provide a backup plan. 

9. Review Your Retirement Plan 

You must keep reviewing your early retirement plan from time to time. Things change, and thus you need to keep adjusting the plan where necessary if you want to get the most out of your early retirement. If your side hustle is doing well, you might need to add more money into the saving account. You need a financial expert to help you review your early retirement plan.  

10. Work Hard and Be Disciplined 

Last but not least, is working hard and be disciplined. You must work hard to achieve your early retirement goals. Make as much money as you can in between the period that you are active in the workforce. However, you must also develop a strong financial discipline to get the most out of your plan. 

If you are planning for an early retirement Australia, these are ten things that you need to put into consideration. You need to know what you want in your retirement and save up enough money to meet your needs. We recommend that you work closely with a financial expert to make your early retirement plan is a success. 

The post Things You Should Do For An Early Retirement appeared first on Financial Planning Magazine.

There are many investment plans in Australia where you can put your money in for retirement. However, you need to be very smart in evaluating risks and expected returns on the investment because they vary. In this guide, we have rounded up 10 of the smartest investment plans for retirement.  

1 – Superannuation Plan

One of the best ways to invest for retirement is enrolling in the superannuation plans. However, this plan works for employees only. It is a pension program or company pension plan where funds are deposited in the superannuation account. The account is added by the employer based on the employee’s ordinary time earnings. The money is put in an invested where you earn returns. What makes this plan ideal for most employees is that it has no tax implications until retirement or withdrawal.  

2 – Listed Investment Companies (LICs)

For those looking to invest in a low-rate environment, then listed investment companies is an ideal option. LICs are traded on the Australia Securities Exchange (ASX), and thus, traders can monitor how their money is performing. The payment is made in the form of dividends from the profits that the company makes. You can reinvest your dividends to increase your shareholding. Once you retire, you can opt to sell your shares, which by now would have appreciated. It’s an ideal option investing for retirement. 

3 – Exchange-Traded Funds (EFTs)

EFTs or Income Partnerships is another popular investment plan in the market. It is a type of security that usually includes a collection of securities that closely resembles index funds. Just like the common stock, EFTs can be bought and sold during the day at a profit. What makes them popular is their convenience of stock and diversification at greater transparency and low cost compared to the typical mutual fund. So, return on investment guarantee. 

4 – Annuities

There are many reasons why annuities are some of the most popular investments for most people. One of them is a guaranteed regular income. It does not matter how the investments are performing in the markets and how long you live. You are guaranteed a regular income throughout your life. So, once you have put your money in these investments, you will start earning returns on it. It is one of the best investments that guarantees steady income even after retirement. However, the amount of income you receive is equal to the size of your investment.  

5 – Corporate Bonds

Corporate bonds are raised by companies to fund their business activities. The bonds are sold to the investors with the promise to pay interests at regular intervals when the bond matures. The amount of interest you get depends on the size of the investment. So, buying corporate bonds can be one of the investments that guarantee a steady source of income even after retirement. However, the paid interest depends on the ability of the project to generate revenue. Therefore, they are a bit high risk but offer higher interests. 

6 – Government Bonds

If high-risk corporate bonds scare you, then you can go for the government bonds. These are bonds issued to fund government spending and more so funding projects. They are considered low-risk because the interest is a guarantee. Unlike companies that can get bankrupt, governments never die. So, the interest on these bonds, though lower, is a guarantee. The payment can be periodic or what is called coupon payments or annual.  

7 – Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

REITs is another lucrative investment that you should consider for your retirement. It’s a form of investment designed to exploits the real estate industry. In such investments, a management company collects money from shareholders to set up a real estate project. It could be building or buying rental properties in the market. Then, the management will collect rent, pay expenses, and collect a management fee. The rest of the money is shared among the shareholders based on their contributions.  

8 – Mutual Funds

As the name suggests, a mutual fund is a type of financial investment where a pool of money is collected from many investors and is invested in securities such as money market instruments, stocks, and bonds, amongst other assets. The fund is operated by a market manager who attempts to produce capital gains or income of the investors. Every investor has shares equal to their contribution, and that’s the percentage of the earned interest they receive. You can easily redeem your share after retirement or opt to continue receiving periodic interests. 

9 – Mortgage Funds

A mortgage fund is a type of financial investment where investors pool money together for mortgage investments. The collected money, which is the mortgage fund, is managed by a professional fund manager. It is either lent out as mortgage to borrowers or invested on the other mortgage-related projects such as other mortgage funds. The net interest earned from the fund is shared among the shareholder periodically. Your shares will also appreciate with time. 

10 – Rental Real Estate

Rental properties provide a perfect investment for retirement. If you have enough money or can secure a loan to buy or build rental properties, then this would be a perfect investment. With the rentals, you win in a couple of ways. First, you will be getting monthly income from rent. Second, the property will continue to appreciate every year. So, when you retire, your investment will have grown in several folds plus guaranteed monthly income. 

Conclusion 

Building sufficient resources that guaranteed a comfortable retirement is increasingly becoming a struggle for many people. However, there are small steps that you can start making from an early age to assure a worry-free retirement. Try one or multiple retirement investment plans that we have listed above to secure a comfortable retirement. If you are still having problem planning for your retirement, seek the assistance of a certified planner for your financial planning needs. They will help you pick a retirement plan that works for you. 

The post 10 Best Investments for Retirement appeared first on Financial Planning Magazine.

However, there are a few things that you need to put into consideration. Considering that you have the all the time to travel, you need to be very smart to get the most out of these travels without exhausting your finances. Here are 10 tips on how to travel upon retirement. 

1. Proper Budgeting 

The most important thing when travelling upon retirement is a realistic budget. You must be operating on a stringent financial plan to protect yourself from misusing your retirement perks. Don’t be tempted by the thousands of dollars in their bank account. If you are no longer in gainful employment, and thus it’s easy to get into financial instability. So, if you want to travel after retirement, you need to create a financial plan to help you spend your money diligently. You can create the plan yourself or hire a certified financial planner in Australia. 

2. Set Goals 

The biggest mistake senior travelers can make is failing to set travel goals. Where do you want to visit, and how long are you planning to stay? How much are you planning to spend? These are crucial questions that will help you set goals. Therefore, you need to make a bucket list for all your dream destinations. Then you need to plan when you want to travel each of the listed destinations. It is also important to take into consideration whether you are going with your spouse or fellow retirees. Lastly, is why you want to travel? These questions will help you set realistic goals. 

3. Pick Wildly New Destinations 

Travelling after retirement gives you all the time you need in the world. So, don’t limit yourself to the so-called true destinations. There are many other new places that you put in your bucket list. The trick is to be wildly adventurous. Pick destinations that are new and fresh and enjoy their unique beauty. There are hundreds of wondrous destinations, but very little information is known about them. These are the destination you need to visit. However, don’t compromise your safety in the process. 

4. Tap on Hotel and Airfare Discounts 

You will be surprised to learn that some of the popular hotels as well as airlines offer discounts to their senior customers. Therefore, if you are planning to tour the world after retirement, then you need to try to benefit from such perks. A discount of 10-20% is pretty cool, especially if you are planning to travel more often. You can easily find these hotels and airlines by searching the internet. Similarly, you can ask friends and family about them. However, contact them to confirm these perks. 

5. Forgo Hotels 

Be a bit adventurous and at the same time, reduce the cost of travel by forgoing hotel accommodation. There are many exciting accommodation options that you can select from without compromising your security and safety. The Airbnb and VRBO are some of the most popular options since you can rent a condo, treehouse, apartment or even a houseboat. Home Exchange and hostels are also a great option for people looking to spend less. All these options are cheaper than hotels and somehow more adventurous.  

6. Rent Out Your Home 

If you live in a tourist rich place in Australia, why not rent out your home. There are many tourists, especially families, who are looking for such accommodation. So, you can put up for rent for the period you will be away. This is one of the smartest tricks to supplement your travel costs. You will also be making extra money on your retirement. So, put your home on Airbnb, VRBO and Home Exchange, amongst other platforms. 

7. Capitalise On Last-Minute Deals 

When travelling after retirement, you have all the time to capitalise of the last-minute deals to your desired destination. During the off-peak months of the year, most hotels and airline offer incredible discounts to attract customers. Some of the hotels offer up to 70% discounts on accommodation. For example, if you desire to travel to Sunshine Coast, Queensland, you can capitalise last-minute deal and opportunities. At this time, you can afford the best hotels in this region due to discounts. There are several apps and website can help track these deals. 

8. Slow Travel 

Slow travel or extended visits works great for retirees. These are kind of travels that value for money. First, you will be able to fully exploit the beauty of your dream destination since you have all the time in the world. Second, it will cost you less in the long run. Longer accommodation packages are cheaper, and the cost of transport is usually lower. You will also avoid tourist traps and learn more about the destination. 

9. RVing 

Investing in a recreational vehicle is a perfect way to drive around Australia, especially the national parks. RVing works great for people who love adventures and more so touring the many eco-tourism destinations this country offers. It is an exciting experience, especially for those travelling with spouses or with friends. You can also generate some income in retirement by hiring your RV when you are not travelling. 

10. Take Travel Insurance 

Last but not least is travel insurance. Travelling upon retirement is exciting but a bit risky. You are travelling on your retirement package, and probably, you don’t have another income-generating activity. That’s why you should think about travel insurance and more so medical travel insurance. You are visiting new places, and this might expose you to serious illnesses. That is why medical insurance is one of the crucial covers for travelling retirees.  

Other travel coverage you can take include trip cancellation, evacuation, baggage and personal item loss, and life insurance, amongst others. 

Conclusion 

If you are planning to travel after retirement, this is definitely a smart decision. You have all the time in the world and money to travel to your dream destinations and enjoy an extended stay. However, you need to be smart to get the most out of your retirement travels. With these 10 tips, you have everything you need to get the most out of your retirement travels. We also recommend that you hire a financial planner to help you manage your finances. 

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