Annuity

[Paul1Perth]

On 18/05/2021 at 20:09, Marisawright said:

I'll give you a tip, based on my personal experience.  Don 't take your supr now, and think twice about retiring now unless you re absolutely minted.

My husband and I both stopped work at 55, due to contracts finishing/retrenchments etc.   We didn't fret about it and decided to retire early because we reckoned we were comfortably off at the time.   We were looking forward to holidays in Europe and all sorts.  Twelve years on and I can hardly believe how differently we see it now.  The superannuation/savings that seemed so amazingly healthy then, look much more shaky now. It's amazing how quickly money goes out the door when there's no money coming in!    We wish now that we'd kept on working for another 5 years or so, it would've made all the difference.

Here's an exercise to do:  sit down and work out how much it costs you to live for a year. Easy to do:  just look at your net salary (after super and tax) and how much of that you manage to save each year.  Now you know how much your current lifestyle costs every year.  Think about what savings you'd make if you weren't working (suits etc).  Then think about the extras you'll spend (more holidays).  Make the adjustments.  The result is how much money you'll need each year in retirement, if you want to go on enjoying the same things in life as you do now. 

Ask yourself, if you withdrew that amount from your super every year, how long would your super last?  Remember, once it runs out, it runs out, and all you'll have left is the govt pension.

We went on a free seminar, put together by my wifes employer, before I retired.

They ran through how much money you need to retire and it scared us, we were going to be nowhere near that figure. Then they went through a "case study" to demonstrate why you'd need that much in your super pot.

The case study had the people renewing their car every 3 years, going on cruises and holidays abroad. Me and the wife looked at each other and thought we don't do that now and we're both working.

The guy from the super company never mentioned pension, so I asked about when pension kicks in. I had already checked and I think Aus pension is pretty generous TBH. You could see the guy squirm as if you shouldn't talk about it. As far as he was concerned everyone should be a self funded retiree.

We came out thinking the super companies are just after your money, same as all big companies.

I did a transition to retirement with my super as soon as I could. Might be 60 now but used to be sooner. You can pay in more to your super and draw out from it whilst still at work. Can be a big tax saving and it increases the amount in super.

I think the trick is to find somewhere to live that has most things you want without having to travel. 

That's why we like where we live so much. I'm retired now, wife works 2 days a week. Weathers good, we're near a brilliant beach, don't even mind winter, we have lots of friends, we are both pretty fit, I go ski paddling at the local surf club early mornings a few times a week, swim at the local pool, still do triathlons, running, go to the surf club gym. Most of what we do costs us next to nothing. We tried a cruise a few years back and we were bored. Gym was OK but there's only so much food you can eat.

I reckon when the wife quits work we'll be able to get some pension and we'll still be having a good lifestyle. Super can take a big dive as well as making money. Like it did when covid hit. They didn't mention that at the seminar either.

Find a place to live where you know you'll be happy and then you have to just live within your means. 

[newjez]

On 21/05/2021 at 00:14, Parley said:

There is a quirk though.

You are right that to access your super, you need to have reached preservation age and finish at your workplace and declare yourself retired.

However you can subsequently "change your mind" and look for another job. So as long as you have finished up somewhere for whatever reason that can work. Getting your super doesn't mean you can never work again.

It does have to be your intention at the time and you declare retirement, but you can change it later.

In the UK that would affect your ability to contribute to your pension. Is that not the same in Australia?

[Paul1Perth]

On 20/05/2021 at 22:09, newjez said:

Not really. My wife doesn't like holidays either. But she does like telling people about the holidays we've been on, although the way she describes them I don't recognize them.

I wouldn't mind the odd city break just to get away. Or a quick trip over to France on the tunnel. But most holidays I've been on you come back more stressed than when you left. I would go skiing. But my wife doesn't ski. 

 

Best holiday we've ever had was with a British mob "swimtrek". I think they are based in Brighton?

On the  Greek Island Milos, you had to get yourself there and they provide/organise everything else. Boat, crew, apartments, most meals. You swim at different locations around the Island average about 6k a day. 2 different locations a day, lunch on board while they cruised to your afternoon swim spot. Back by about 5 every evening, so plenty of time for a few drinks and walk around. We both loved it.

Don't know how they're faring now after covid. It would have stopped all their holidays I guess. Hope they're still around, I'd definitely go with them again.

[Ken]

On 20/05/2021 at 17:55, Marisawright said:

@Martinbjulieb, my only concern would be that if you need two advisers, something is wrong somewhere.  If you've got a genuinely cross-border adviser (and not one of those jumped-up "wealth management" firms based in Dubai or the like), that you have confidence in, then I'd stick with what they say, OR find another genuine cross-border advisor if you want a second opinion.  It sounds like a recipe for confusion to have an Australia-only advisor as well, who's only looking at half the equation.

The problem is that while there are firms that have offices in both countries the advisors are normally only qualified in one country and normally only know that country well so even if you go to one of those firms you would end up using two advisors.