With a good financial strategy in place for each life stage, every member of your family can build their wealth and protect their assets — while taking care of their lifestyle needs as they change. Here’s how each generation can get the balance right.
You've worked hard to build your savings and you're looking forward to a comfortable retirement. At this stage of your investment journey, earning a secure ongoing income from your investment is probably a higher priority than trying to grow your investments further. If this is the case, you might want to move away from shares and property towards defensive assets such as cash and fixed interest.
But of course, everyone's needs are different so this might not be the right strategy for you. Depending on your own financial goals you might prefer a less conservative investment approach - especially if you're counting on your investments to last the rest of your life.
As you ease into retirement, your financial commitments might be winding down — especially if you’ve paid off your mortgage and your children have left home. This frees up your finances so you can instead focus on taking care of yourself.
Remember, your health care costs may become more expensive as you move through this life stage. So make sure your private health insurance covers everything you might need, but also check that you’re not paying for things you don’t, such as pregnancy-related services.
Although you may no longer need income protection cover, it may be worthwhile to hang onto your life, Total and Permanent Disability Cover (TPD) and trauma insurance. This will help make sure that if something happens to you, your loved ones will be financially protected, particularly if you have debts to manage.
If you’re thinking of updating your insurance arrangements, you can talk to a financial planner to discuss different types of cover and find out how much cover might be right for you.
Things you should know
This article contains general advice only. It does not take account of your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider talking to a financial planner before making any financial decision based on this information. This document has been prepared by Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited ABN 65 003 900 169, AFSL 231139, (Commonwealth Financial Planning) a wholly-owned, but non-guaranteed subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124. Commonwealth Financial Planners are representatives of Commonwealth Financial Planning.
Information in this article is based on current regulatory requirements and laws. While care has been taken in the preparation of this document, no liability is accepted by Commonwealth Financial Planning, Commonwealth Financial Planning related entities, agents and employees for any loss arising from reliance on this document. Commonwealth Financial Planning is registered with the Tax Practitioners Board as a Registered Tax (Financial) Adviser. However your Financial Planner is not a Registered Tax Agent. Consequently, tax considerations are general in nature and do not include an assessment of your overall tax position. You should seek tax advice from a Registered Tax Agent.
