Life Stages
The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.
Family focus
Your life's path is proceeding smoothly -- your children are growing up and you may have been through one of the most financially challenging periods of your life.
It's a good time to streamline your finances. You might be closer to paying off your mortgage and you know that too much debt is not a good thing if you want to boost your savings. If you have personal loans or credit card debt, it could be a good idea to consolidate and get it paid off fast so you can focus on your savings.
This is the age where people start catching up with their super and there are many things you can do to boost it. Often women who take time out of the workforce to care for their family have much less in super so it's vital now to pay closer attention and get a good savings plan in place.
You don't necessarily need to squirrel all your money away for retirement, after all you probably want to let your hair down, travel or spend some time rekindling your relationship now that you have more opportunity to do things together. It's important to take time out and enjoy the finer things in life.
Ways to save
There are some really good ways you can save money without sacrificing too much. A Quadrant First financial advisor can help you make up for lost time by assessing your finances and recommending some simple strategies like salary sacrifice or taking advantage of the Government co-contribution. They also have a range of other simple savings tips.
You can even save a nice sum of money simply by ensuring your super fund doesn't charge high fees or commissions. In true industry fund style, Quadrant keeps administration fees to a minimum so our members benefit from the profits and we don't pay commissions to shareholders or other third parties. It really does make a difference to your bottom line savings.
If you have money scattered around a number of super funds it could be a good idea to roll it into one fund. At Quadrant we make it easy for you. All you have to do is complete a couple of forms and we will do the rest for you. You can also transfer insurance cover from your old fund too -- a service not all funds provide and you won't have to provide any further medical evidence.
Super insurance
Of course, at this stage of life your health becomes more important and you're probably conscious of the need to maintain a healthy lifestyle and make sure you have plenty of life and disability cover. It also a good time to ensure your Will is up to date. After all, you no doubt want your children to be well taken care of if something happens to you.
Make sure that neither you nor your partner has to carry the financial burden of your whole lifestyle if one of you has an accident or falls ill and can't work. You can do this by ensuring that you both have income protection insurance. You don't want to find yourself on Struggle Street due to unforeseen circumstances. Once you've reviewed your finances you can sit back and relax knowing they will be working for you
Checklist
- Take time to enjoy the finer things in life
- Either make a Will or review your current one
- Review your super accounts including fees, charges and commissions with a view to consolidating them.
