Retirement is a scary prospect for a lot of people. For 40 years you were in an organization where you felt significant in the day to day existence. For all this to come to an end one Friday afternoon with a farewell dinner at work is something a lot of people dread.
This can be made much easier if you plan for this day your entire working career, unfortunately a lot of people realize in their 40’s and even 50’s that retirement is not “that far away” Of course it is best to start saving the day you start working, but if that was not the case you can still with these guidelines save up a nest egg.
Postpone your retirement.
Depending on your seniority level and the company you work for near the age of retirement, you might be forced to go on retirement at a certain age. Delaying your retirement (if possible) can be a very effective way of increasing the value of your nest egg and will mean a lot in your golden years. Your biggest RA contributions and or pension fund contributions is in the latter years and an extra 3 or 4 years will make a big difference.
Depending on the rules of your fund, some pension funds pay out a monthly income to the amount of your average remuneration in your last 3/4/5 years. Staying on longer will then most probably increase your income in retirement as you are most probably in your best income earning years close to retirement.
Start now!
It is a pity that you did not start saving the day you started working, but the second-best time to start is now. If you are 45 years old today, you can still save up a healthy nest egg for the next 20 years until age 65.
Get advice.
The type of product you choose make an enormous difference. Costs on certain RA’s is very high and just by discussing the fund-and platform cost with your financial adviser, will give you a few years in contributions back at retirement.
Take on risk if you have 10 years +
10 Years is still a long time in investment years. If you have no savings, you cannot afford to be too conservative in your investment approach. You must allow the market to help you to boost your savings. Over a long time, the market is very likely to make shorter term losses up and reward investors for higher risks.
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