Eclipse

Planning to retire soon?  

If retirement is on your horizon in the next few years, now is the time to start preparing.  

There are plenty of questions to work through. How much income will you need during the active, slowing and sedentary stages of retirement? Do you have enough super and other investments to support the lifestyle you want? Could you qualify for the Age Pension? Would moving money between super, personal investments or spouses improve your position?  

Then there is another important question: what happens if investment markets fall just before or after you retire?  

While you are working, you are generally a regular buyer of investments. Your employer contributions, and perhaps your own extra contributions, continue purchasing assets through your super. When markets fall, those contributions buy investments at lower prices.  

Retirement changes that position completely. Once you begin drawing an income from your super and investments, you become a regular seller. If markets fall and you still need to fund monthly pension payments, you may be forced to sell investments when their values are temporarily depressed. That can make it harder for your retirement savings to recover.  

We have seen several major downturns over recent decades, including the technology crash, the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID market fall. Each was different, but they all demonstrated that investment markets can fall sharply and may take time to recover.  

The aim is not to predict the next downturn. Nobody can do that reliably. The aim is to have a retirement income strategy that reduces the chance of selling quality investments at the wrong time when they are undervalued.  

At Eclipse Financial Services, we use our Bucket Strategy to help protect retired clients through changing investment markets. It is designed to provide money for pension payments while allowing longer-term investments time to recover after a downturn.  

The key message is simple: if you are hoping to retire in the next few years, start planning now.  

A well-prepared retirement strategy can give you a clearer picture of the income you may receive, how your money should be structured and how you could manage future market volatility. Do not let an unexpected downturn delay the retirement years you have worked so hard to enjoy. Plan early, understand your options and put suitable protections in place.  

For a free consultation with local people who understand these and other financial matters, contact Eclipse Financial Services in Cannonvale on 4946 7359 or visit www.eclipsefp.com.au.  

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