Sandra had only a couple of years of work left when she realised that she hadn’t the first idea what to do with her super when she retired.

She’d always looked forward to retirement, but as the big six-oh approached, things were getting real, and she was becoming anxious.

Her friend Jamila had had a financial adviser, Terry, for over thirty years. Now, Jamila’s retirement strategy was well underway and she was looking forward to finishing work.

Over coffee, Jamila offered to arrange a meeting between Sandra and Terry. But Sandra believed that since she’d already paid off her house, her children were independent and her Will up to date, there was nothing a financial adviser could do for her.

Jamila disagreed.

For her, retirement was the most crucial stage for financial guidance as once she’d finished work, she’d have no further opportunity to earn income. Her savings must support her lifestyle, potentially for up to thirty years.

Jamila described how Terry helped her to understand her options around:

• transitioning from a super account to a super income stream,
• how a lump sum withdrawal might be appropriate,
• maximising her super contributions, e.g., the government’s downsizer scheme.

Jamila’s adviser helped her make sense of Australia’s confusing tax and age pension rules so she would be able to reduce her tax liability and optimise her age pension entitlement.

Additionally, Terry steered Jamila through the complexity of estate planning. As she explained to Sandra, having a Will is not the same as having an estate plan.

Estate planning considered things such as, powers of attorney, family trusts, superannuation benefit nominations, digital assets like cloud-storage and digital wallets, insurance, asset protection, and lots more.

With so much room for error, working with Terry enabled Jamila to make informed decisions and feel confident that she could support her chosen lifestyle in retirement.

Further, Terry would regularly review her entire retirement plan to ensure it remained on track against market fluctuations and drawdowns, and continued to align with lifestyle goals.

Sandra hadn’t realised how much a professional adviser could do for her. While Jamila was speaking, she’d compared her friend’s retirement excitement with her own nervous trepidation. By the time she’d finished her coffee, she was eager to meet Jamila’s adviser.

Like Sandra, many older Australians mistakenly believe that by retirement all major financial decisions have already been made and that it’s too late to develop any meaningful strategy.

In reality, financial advice is invaluable if you’re about to finish work because mistakes at this stage of life can seriously impact the quality of your retirement.

Ultimately, however, financial advice can provide something less tangible, though possibly more important – peace of mind.