Retirement Advice
Retirement Planning Advice: Retire Once, Pay Once.
Retirement is the one time almost everyone should get advice. It is also when ongoing fees do the most damage, because you are drawing the money down. I set your retirement up properly for one fixed fee, and then you keep the rest.
$330, credited against your advice fee. If you do not need advice, I will tell you.
Four consultations a week.
The Three Questions
Nearly everyone coming up to retirement asks me the same three things.
- How much do I need?For many home owners, less than the headlines suggest. Many people overestimate what they will spend.
- When can I stop?Often sooner than you think, and sometimes in stages.
- How do I pay myself?From an account-based pension in a good fund, with a cash buffer so a bad year in the market never forces you to sell.
That chart is the reason I do not charge ongoing fees. In retirement, 1% a year is not a rounding error. It is years of your income.
What Retirement Advice Covers
- Whether you have enough, and what 'enough' looks like for you
- When to move from super to pension, and which fund to do it in
- How much to draw each year
- How much to hold in cash, and where the rest goes
- The Age Pension: what you are entitled to and how to claim it
- Contributions worth making before you stop, including downsizer contributions
- What to do with insurance you may no longer need
- What happens to your super when you die
Projections You Can Run Yourself
Your advice comes with projections you can understand, check and rerun yourself, using simple tools. You should never have to go back to an adviser, or pay for their software, just to see where you stand.
What you will not get is forty pages of modelling that predicts your balance to the dollar in thirty years. Forecasts like that look precise and are out of date within a year. I give you a sensible range and the handful of numbers that actually drive it.
Things Worth Knowing Before You Pay Anyone
- Your balance going down is the plan working.A balance that falls over a decade of retirement is not a sign you are doing it wrong. It is what the money is for.
- If you qualify, you already have an annuity.It is called the Age Pension. It is the floor that rises to meet you as you spend down, and a market fall can mean a pension increase.
- After 60, super is generous.From a taxed super fund, money you draw after 60 is generally tax free.
- Nobody can guarantee the next 20 years.Be wary of anyone selling certainty. What you can control is fees, cash on hand and not panicking.
Retire Once.
What Does An Extra 1% A Year Cost You?
Fees you do not need, or returns you are not getting. Put in your own numbers.
Higher fees, weaker returns, or both. Compare your fund's fees and returns with a low-cost alternative to find yours.
- With the extra cost
- $1,603,568
- Without it
- $1,934,842
Illustration only. Assumes 7% a year before the extra cost, no contributions or withdrawals, no tax and no inflation. Not a forecast and not personal advice.
Retirement Advice, Answered
How much super do I need to retire?
It depends on what you spend, whether you own your home and how much Age Pension you will receive. For many home owners the figure is lower than the headlines suggest. I work out your number in the advice, using your actual spending.
When should I get retirement advice?
Ideally two to five years before you plan to stop, so there is time to use contribution rules. The second best time is now.
Do I need an adviser for the rest of my retirement?
Most people do not. Once the pension is set up in a good fund with the right option and a cash buffer, there is very little to do each year. If something big changes, come back for an hour.
Can you help with Centrelink?
Yes. Age Pension entitlements and how your assets are structured for it are part of retirement advice.
What does it cost?
$330 for the consultation, then from $6,600 for the advice, or $8,800 for complex cases such as SMSFs, trusts, companies and defined benefit schemes. Once.
Do you recommend annuities?
Rarely. I do not think the return is worth what you give up. I will explain why for your situation.
Where are you based?
Level 12, 14 Martin Place, Sydney. I advise clients across Sydney and the rest of Australia by Zoom, Teams or phone.
General advice only. It does not take your objectives, financial situation or needs into account. Consider whether it is appropriate for you before acting on it.
Book A Consultation
If you do not need advice, you find out for $330, not $6,600.
- 45 minutes with the adviser himself, not a junior
- A fixed quote on the call, if advice is warranted
- The $330 is credited in full if you proceed
Why $330 and not free? A free first meeting is usually paid for later, through ongoing fees. I would rather you paid once for my time and owed me nothing.
Pay $330 now. A consultation, not an advice session. Reschedule up to 48 hours before.