Saving for a Sunny Day

Would life be a lot easier if we knew what was around the corner?

Although very blunt, it’s very true when it comes down to figuring out how much we need to save for our future. We can look at probability charts and check our family’s genealogy and medical history but we can never know for certain when we are going to die. This makes it difficult to know how much we should plan to save for retirement; a pension alone is not enough to survive on. We need to decide ourselves how long we need our money to last us in retirement. Once we decide this, we can sort out an investment strategy and retirement savings strategy. We have collated advice from around the net to help you with your planning.

Our top 10 picks of activities to look forward to at retirement:
 
-Travel (learn a new language)
-Making and completing a bucket list
-Joining a club – motorcycle, painting, gardening, bowling, card playing etc
-Throwing more parties
-Hiking a nature trail
-Reading books all day long
-Experimenting with different foods
-Getting adequate sleep
-Meditating
-Volunteering for a cause you feel passionate about
Source: www.earlyretirementextreme.com
 
Top 10 businesses for retirees to startup:
 
-Consultancy firm
-Professional speaker
-Online business
-Bed and Breakfast hospitality business
-RV/Camping organisation
-Property management
-Pet sitting
-Catering
-Blogging
-Online jurors
Sources: www.howstuffworks.com, www.inc.com
 
Investing and inflation
The main idea we must understand about inflation is that the price of goods increases as we get older. This is why it is important for us to invest our savings so that our money grows. Investing is a concept we should understand, it will help to maximise our funds and retirement savings. Investing is also a risk, there’s a chance you will lose money and not make any return. It is therefore important to decide how much you can afford to spend and to take time to choose where you want to put that money. There are many types of investment options such as assets of cash, bonds, property and shares and different providers vary in forms of inflation protection. Kiwisaver is a retirement scheme which invests your money – again there are different providers and different schemes within these providers. Doing your own research and aligning with organisations that share the same values as you is a good way of choosing what to invest in.
For more information visit www.superlife.co.nz
 
Investment advice:
- Do your research. The internet has plenty of information and tips available.
- Talk to people.
-Don’t put ALL your money in just one area – have a variety of investment types.
-No investment is a good investment if you have to pay too much.
-Have an investment strategy – you need to make sure your money is available when you need to spend it, and that you are protected against inflation in the meantime. There are five key factors to consider for your investment strategy– timing, importance, alternative sources of income, patience and risk personality.
-Decide on your values and what you stand for so you invest in businesses you believe in.
Sources: www.superlife.co.nz, www.investandretire.co.nz, www.nzherald.co.nz
 
Analysis of starting a business after retirement
Are you interested in starting a business after you retire? It’s not uncommon for people to do so, there have been many people that have started up or brought businesses after they have retired. We look at the benefits of doing this but also the difficulties involved.
Advice from an expert “If you want to make some money in time then start a small business – not capital intensive and no debt. But if you aren’t concerned about the wealth and just want some social engagement then buying a big business is fine.”
 
The benefits:
-The more you stay engaged and carry on using your brain, the better.
-Social engagement
-Mental engagement
-Extra income
 
The difficulties to consider:
-Some get so engrossed they’re working 60 hours a week – the same as they were working before they retired. This can ruin retirement.
-There are no specialists for support as you are the owner.
-If you are going from a corporate career to a small business, you may find it difficult not being able to discuss your problems with people from different departments as your business won’t have many different departments.
-You might find that you’re not actually good at it – this goes for people starting a business in an industry they haven’t worked in before.
Source: www.nzherald.co.nz
 
On the other hand…
Here’s another perspective on saving for retirement
A young UK couple decided the saying, “youth is wasted in the young” should be “retirement is wasted on the old”. In their mid-30’s they left their high-powered careers to ‘retire’ in France.
Tired of the daily grind consisting of early morning starts, office politics and staring at a computer screen all day they decided to pack up and live life a little. They put their flat on the market, took out their savings and left their jobs in London to move to France and live a retired lifestyle. Reading and lounging by the pool all day, wondering whether the fire will cackle into life is the only stressful thing in their lives. They are not alone either, they have met other couples in their mid-30s and mid-40s who have moved to France to retire young as well, living off property investments and a bit of contract work here and there.
So while we are advised to think about our futures, maybe we should also think about living life now because who knows what will happen?
Source: www.independent.co.uk
 
Sorting our priorities:
 
New Zealand organisation, Bradley Nuttal financial advisors, have found when talking to many couples about being ready for retirement, one thing that helps a lot is prioritising. Once they sort out exactly what the couple want to do with their money they’re able to make retirement happen a lot sooner by making their money go to places it needs to go. This is because they make adjustments and cut down on the money in low priority areas and put more into the high priority areas. It can easily be done by writing a list of ideas and ranking them in order of low priority to high priority. From looking at the list, adjustments can be made to the current status of certain factors to increase the likelihood of achieving them. By making retirement a priority it will help increase the probability of being ready for it.
Source: www.bnl.co.nz