Are you going to be ok?

How do you know you will be ok?  How do you know if you’re going to have enough?

These seem to be the number one questions on everyone’s mind when thinking about retirement.

One thing we all know is that the bills keep coming.  Grocery shopping and other expenses don’t stop when you stop work.

Good retirement planning is about ensuring your income in retirement matches your expenses (hopefully with a bit left over).

Great retirement planning (and all financial planning) results directing your resources to the things that that deeply matter to you.  For that, your expenses need to include all the things you want to be doing to live a fulfilling life.

So, before we can address “will I have enough?”, we need to understand what enough looks like to you in that context.   This means asking questions like:

  1. What do you want retirement to look like?
  2. Who you want to spend it with?
  3. And what you want to be doing where?

Great retirement planning starts with more questions than answers.

If seeking retirement advice, think more about answering these questions, than focusing on investment options, different super funds, economic forecasts or God forbid, the financial media.  It will allow for a much more valuable process and fulfilling outcome.

The earlier you start, the more meaningful your retirement can be.  Remember, it’s never too early to take that first step.