AWG is a fee-based practice and our fees are based on a scale of funds under management. Your initial consultations are free of charge, once we proceed to preparing a Statement of Advice (SOA) a one off SOA fee will apply. For a detailed breakdown of our fee schedule you can read through our Financial Services Guide.

How much you need to retire really depends on what retirement means to you. Some people envisage retirement as a time where they wind down their work hours, but still have income coming in from part time work. Others see themselves spending time with extended family, travelling, or doing things they have not had time to do while working. Whatever your retirement goals, understanding how much it costs you is the first step. One way to do this is to quantify how much your current lifestyle costs you, as presumably you would like to maintain that lifestyle throughout retirement.

Once you have determined the income you need to meet your desired lifestyle, then you need to check if it is possible for your assets to achieve your goal. If the answer is wildly different from the amount you currently spend to live, then you might need to consider strategies to increase your savings for retirement. This is when advice can be of value.

If you are uncertain around the amount you may need to fund your retirement each year, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) benchmarks the minimum annual cost of a comfortable or modest standard of living in retirement for singles and couples aged around 67, is reviewed regularly and updated quarterly in line with inflation. The standard accounts for daily essentials, such as groceries, transport and home repairs, as well as private health insurance, a range of exercise and leisure activities and the occasional restaurant meal. Importantly it enables retirees to remain connected to family and friends virtually – through technology, and in person with an annual domestic trip and an international trip once every seven years.  Latest figures can be found via this link:

https://www.superannuation.asn.au/resources/retirement-standard

The standards assume that retirees own their home outright and are relatively healthy.

The key here is not to compare, but to use the retirement standard to ensure you have checked off everything when you are estimating your cost of living. For example, the comfortable standard allows for one international flight every seven years. If you are planning on globe-trotting following retirement, then you might need to up your annual needs to cover travel.

The definition of retirement has changed over the years as have life expectancies. A person retiring at 60 today might need to budget for their assets to last well into their 90’s…potentially longer than their working life. This means you need to not only plan for your needs in early retirement, but also consider the future costs of care should it be required.

Perhaps another way to consider retirement is that you are retired when you are in a financial position to work because you want to, not because you must.

There are many events in life that could prompt financial advice from planning retirement, inheriting assets from a loved one or you simply want a professional to take the burden from you.

If you are someone who needs assistance understanding their financial goals and needs guidance to help achieve them, appointing a financial adviser could help you achieve financial freedom. The role of a financial adviser is to meet with you, assess your current financial position, understand your objectives and develop and implement a comprehensive plan. Think of an adviser as your financial coach who helps motivate you to achieve all that you and your family set out to do.