Your dream retirement plan: how to make it a reality
Do you have a picture of how you’d like your retirement to look like? Will you travel, spend more time on your hobbies or see the grandkids more often?
When it comes to working towards a dream retirement the people who are most content and happy all have one thing in common – a plan.
Having something to focus on and a plan to support making it a reality is the first step to achieving your dream.
Here are some steps you can take to plan for your dream retirement.
Plan your finances
One of the biggest worries about retirement is how you will cope financially. With the age pension being phased out many people will be relying on their superannuation for future retirement.
Generally for a couple to live a comfortable retirement you would need just over $60,000 a year, or about $45,000 for a single person.
Once you know this you can start to work on a plan, whether it is to save more to to start making extra contributions to your superannuation fund. But the key here is planning early.
Aim for no debts
A good aim if you’re still 10-15 years off retirement is to focus on becoming debt free.
Going into retirement with little or no debts will greatly reduce your cost of living and your stress.
Things you can do to become debt free is to make extra repayments or review your home loan regularly so that you can be sure you’re getting the best interest rate available.
Saving on your home loan could allow you to pay more off your loan in the long run.
Make sacrifices
Be prepared to make sacrifices and don’t do things just because everyone else is doing them.
Buying a new car or expensive luxury items might seem like a fun idea at the time, but you need to check back in on your plan and ask yourself if that is what you really want.
If you need help looking at new home loan options or making a plan to become debt free, reach out to the team at North Brisbane Home Loans.
Patrick Cranshaw, a Certified Mortgage Professional for over 21 years, founded North Brisbane Home Loans in 2002. His career began with ANZ Bank in New Zealand, where he progressed over 16 years to a Business Banking role in Virginia. After moving to Brisbane in 2000, Patrick led the QLD market for a home loan agency, helped set up the REMAX Real Estate Finance division, and practiced as a broker.
