Plan Your Retirement in 6 Simple Steps (Beginners Guide)

I was fortunate enough to be able to retire at 54 y/o on a (private company, not government) defined benefit. We could do that any time after 50 years old. Is that not a common thing any more?

Chris, one thing I get confused by using these calculators is, do they account for inflation? I can live comfortably on $70k per year, so use that in the calc to determine what I need in retirement, but that is $70k in 2024. If the calc says you need say, $800,000 at retirement to cover that $70k for life, is that considering inflation? Thanks.

my goal in retirement is to draw from the super balance the same (or more) after tax figure that I earn now. Also developing further passive income outside super "just in case". Just started my TTR, handy to pay for some big home repair items.

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I want to retire from my full time job at the age of 50. Be able to afford working part time and do something else. I’m pushing 40 and we are on track with our retirement goals. We find it hard to maximise our super contribution. But at least we are putting in 15% of our income and will be paying off our mortgage early. 🤞🏻💪

i think "what expenses do you want to cover?" should come before "what age do you want to retire?". they go hand in hand but you can retire at any age if you are happy to accept any lifestyle.

I am not relying on my Super for my retirement. Its all invested in the market only to serve the wealthiest in financial meltdown.

Hi Cris. What software do you use?

Is there a super fund that allows you to leverage?

Hi Chris, great information here, but I do think you should have added a seventh step as follows;
7. Be prepared to change your retirement plans.
I think retirees need to be fully prepared to change the plans they have put in place if things don't work out quite as planned.
Many retirees return to work for instance after retiring as they feel a sense of loss or find it wasn't as envisaged.
I think the fundamentals mentioned like reducing debts and maximising super are always a great starting point and should be adhered to no matter what your plans may be but I would be a little more flexible on the age at which you retire etc and this may affect strategies like starting an account based or TTR pension etc.
Things like parents or loved one's becoming ill and the need for you to be in a carer role is also something that is completely out of your control and can throw your retirement plans into chaos. Just be prepared if things don't quite go as you had originally intended.
The average ACTUAL retirement age in Australia is around 56. The avergae INTENDED retirement age is 65.
This seems like a huge almost 10 year difference between intended and actual retirement ages where things didn't quite go to plan !
Just some food for thought.

Sorry, but gotta say these videos are getting so monotonous... Same info over and over again

I joined the Army in 1996 with $7,000 in savings from my previous job. In 1997, I read a Motley Fool book with bad investing advice, but at least it got me interested in money and investing, and I made a goal of retiring in 20 years with ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!! I failed. I retired from the Army in 2016 with $750,000. But the market continued to be good and by Nov 2019, I hit the $1M mark. In Aug 2021, 1 hit $1.5M all by the help of Stephanie Janis Stiefel my IA. Earlier this year, I comingled my dad's and my money (I'm his caregiver. He's 89 years old). Right now, our household net worth of investible assets is $2.1M. By the way, my withdrawal rate is zero.
We live comfortably on his social security, his pension, and my Army retirement pay.

Great video again Chris. A question - are super earnings subject to the tax free threshold ($18,200) while in accumulation mode if I'm over 60 and full retired?

Hypothetical Scenario : I'm 63 and fully retired. I have a super account in pension phase providing my primary income stream. I also have a super account in accumulation phase. I receive an inheritance of $100,000. I can stash this away outstide of super in a bank savings account earning 5% (in theory) and wont pay any tax as the earning are under the tax free threshold of $18,200. If I stash it in my super accumulation account instead I wont pay any contribution fees, I can earn 5% (or more), but do I still pay 15% tax on the earnings?

Thanks for the info. Helpful.

I couldn’t get the moneysmart calculator to consider income from assets outside of super. So it wasn’t helpful. Is there a more flexible one online?

Hi Chris, according to chat gpt the average age of retirement in Australia is 55.4 y.o. Yet most Australian retirement videos assume people retire at 60. Women on average retire at 52. I would appreciate some guidance on how to best manage the gap years after retirement and before you can access super. This is arguably more tricky because of tax issues…