thailand can be considered a retirement haven, thus the post is justified.
-
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The RETIREMENT thread
- Thread starter Leongsam
- Start date
What should an elderly do to continue earning an income?
There's lots of jobs in private security and table cleaning in coffeeshops. The demand is so strong that as long as you show up for the interview, you are assured of getting the job.
To me, saving up for retirement is like building up your financial war chest 
Never lose your job that provided you a stable income. Work smarter and establish a good relationship with your paymaster.
Never buy a house with the intention of retiring in a cheaper foreign land. Remember that Sinkieland is your home, be it slogging for a private condo apartment or a HDB 3-rooms flat. It is still better to retire in your own country.
I wish all Singaporeans a happy 53rd National Day and achieving your financial dream
Never lose your job that provided you a stable income. Work smarter and establish a good relationship with your paymaster.
Never buy a house with the intention of retiring in a cheaper foreign land. Remember that Sinkieland is your home, be it slogging for a private condo apartment or a HDB 3-rooms flat. It is still better to retire in your own country.
I wish all Singaporeans a happy 53rd National Day and achieving your financial dream
I love to work. I wanna work until the day I die. My dream is to drop dead at my workplace.
The day I stop working, my mind and body will degenerate. I pray never to have to stop working.
The day I stop working, my mind and body will degenerate. I pray never to have to stop working.
You did not read this thread from the beginning. I'll say it again "retirement" does not mean you stop working. It means you no longer have to work in order to make ends meet. It means you have achieved financial independence so you can work on what you love doing instead of doing something just so you get paid.
Why retirement isn't the long holiday you thought it would be
12 Aug, 2018 3:30pm
4 minutes to read
/arc-anglerfish-syd-prod-nzme.s3.amazonaws.com/public/P2PIVCHCYJFVBJ73V5AJSBH4ZA.jpg)
Why retirement isn't like one long holiday. Photo/Stephanie Holmes
By: Tamsyn Parker
Money Editor, NZ Herald
[email protected]
Think retirement is all about having one big long holiday and having enough money to splurge on cruising and European getaways?
It's not, according to Canadian retirement expert Barry LaValley.
LaValley, who is in the midst of a three-week speaking tour of New Zealand, believes people need to shake up the way they see the r-word.
"Look at this period of your life in a different way rather than a long holiday, it is the last phase of life. It's not a 30-year long weekend," he says.
He says retirement should be about people doing what they want to do, when they want to do it - and if that involves keeping on working, he is all for it.
LaValley says when people are working they tend to see retirement as a reward for all the hard work they have put in.
"We have been taught to demonise work and see retirement as the reward at the end of the rainbow.
"But when people get there they realise it isn't at all."
He says publicly people will never admit to being unhappy in retirement or bored.
"They will say 'I have never been this busy - I don't know how I found time to work before'."
But he says research shows happiness in retirement is not about how much you have saved and how many trips you can take, but non-financial aspects.
"The key to retirement happiness is health - because you can have all the money in the world, but if you don't have your health it's not worth anything."
He says second to that is relationships, followed by meaningful and fulfilling activities.
Money doesn't come in until number four.
/arc-anglerfish-syd-prod-nzme.s3.amazonaws.com/public/ADUPWJKFWJEKZASOWALINVSGRM.jpg)
Barry LaValley, author of So you think you are ready to retire?, wants to shake up how Kiwis think about retirement. Photo/Supplied
He says what retirement should be about is having control over what you do on a day-to-day basis.
And he thinks people should continue working if they can and want to.
"It gives you purpose, structure and it's good for your health."
He points to Australian research which shows that for every year a person keeps working over the age of 60 it decreases their likelihood of getting dementia by 1.7 per cent a year.
He says keeping your mind active is an important way to stem off dementia.
"If you love what you are doing, keep doing it.
"Even if you are working for someone else you are choosing to do it. You should do it on your own schedule."
He says one of the opportunities in retirement is for balance. That could be working three days a week or working from home.
However he admits that may not be possible for those who need the money.
For those who have to work for financial reasons LaValley says it is important to balance it out with doing the things you love outside of work.
LaValley is 65 and says he is retired in his mind.
"If you define retirement that I do what I want to when I want then I am retired.
"But I am going to do this as much as I can because it keeps me healthy."
He still travels a lot but often takes his wife with him.
"I have made trade-offs but I would go nuts if I sat at a golf course every day."
Like most people in his younger years LaValley saw retirement as a big holiday.
His wake-up call came nine years ago when he got cancer.
"What it taught me is life is so precious. You are wasting a lot of time if you don't do as much as you can."
He says the biggest mistake people make is to look at retirement as the end of work.
"People are very clear what they are retiring from but don't know what they are retiring to."
And they don't plan for long enough.
Many pre-retirees believe they will probably die in their mid-80s - at a similar age to their parents. But if you are in your 50s and healthy it could be more like mid-90s.
"You have to plan long but live short," says LaValley.
"There has to be long term planning in place."
LaValley also warns people off gambling with their retirement savings to try and win big for a "better" retirement.
"A lot of people roll the dice at this point.
"They have got this idea that they are going to hit the jackpot and spend up large in retirement."
He says in Canada as much as 11 per cent of people think lottery winnings will help pay for their retirement.
But the odds of winning the lottery are much lower.
12 Aug, 2018 3:30pm
4 minutes to read
Why retirement isn't like one long holiday. Photo/Stephanie Holmes
By: Tamsyn Parker
Money Editor, NZ Herald
[email protected]
Think retirement is all about having one big long holiday and having enough money to splurge on cruising and European getaways?
It's not, according to Canadian retirement expert Barry LaValley.
LaValley, who is in the midst of a three-week speaking tour of New Zealand, believes people need to shake up the way they see the r-word.
"Look at this period of your life in a different way rather than a long holiday, it is the last phase of life. It's not a 30-year long weekend," he says.
He says retirement should be about people doing what they want to do, when they want to do it - and if that involves keeping on working, he is all for it.
LaValley says when people are working they tend to see retirement as a reward for all the hard work they have put in.
"We have been taught to demonise work and see retirement as the reward at the end of the rainbow.
"But when people get there they realise it isn't at all."
He says publicly people will never admit to being unhappy in retirement or bored.
"They will say 'I have never been this busy - I don't know how I found time to work before'."
But he says research shows happiness in retirement is not about how much you have saved and how many trips you can take, but non-financial aspects.
"The key to retirement happiness is health - because you can have all the money in the world, but if you don't have your health it's not worth anything."
He says second to that is relationships, followed by meaningful and fulfilling activities.
Money doesn't come in until number four.
Barry LaValley, author of So you think you are ready to retire?, wants to shake up how Kiwis think about retirement. Photo/Supplied
He says what retirement should be about is having control over what you do on a day-to-day basis.
And he thinks people should continue working if they can and want to.
"It gives you purpose, structure and it's good for your health."
He points to Australian research which shows that for every year a person keeps working over the age of 60 it decreases their likelihood of getting dementia by 1.7 per cent a year.
He says keeping your mind active is an important way to stem off dementia.
"If you love what you are doing, keep doing it.
"Even if you are working for someone else you are choosing to do it. You should do it on your own schedule."
He says one of the opportunities in retirement is for balance. That could be working three days a week or working from home.
However he admits that may not be possible for those who need the money.
For those who have to work for financial reasons LaValley says it is important to balance it out with doing the things you love outside of work.
LaValley is 65 and says he is retired in his mind.
"If you define retirement that I do what I want to when I want then I am retired.
"But I am going to do this as much as I can because it keeps me healthy."
He still travels a lot but often takes his wife with him.
"I have made trade-offs but I would go nuts if I sat at a golf course every day."
Like most people in his younger years LaValley saw retirement as a big holiday.
His wake-up call came nine years ago when he got cancer.
"What it taught me is life is so precious. You are wasting a lot of time if you don't do as much as you can."
He says the biggest mistake people make is to look at retirement as the end of work.
"People are very clear what they are retiring from but don't know what they are retiring to."
And they don't plan for long enough.
Many pre-retirees believe they will probably die in their mid-80s - at a similar age to their parents. But if you are in your 50s and healthy it could be more like mid-90s.
"You have to plan long but live short," says LaValley.
"There has to be long term planning in place."
LaValley also warns people off gambling with their retirement savings to try and win big for a "better" retirement.
"A lot of people roll the dice at this point.
"They have got this idea that they are going to hit the jackpot and spend up large in retirement."
He says in Canada as much as 11 per cent of people think lottery winnings will help pay for their retirement.
But the odds of winning the lottery are much lower.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12127002
How to retire in your forties without earning a fortune
18 Sep, 2018 6:30am
4 minutes to read
/arc-anglerfish-syd-prod-nzme.s3.amazonaws.com/public/JUKISZCJKFCSNPEQA76KEUP7RU.jpg)
Experts say anyone can "go from broke to never needing to work again" by saving 50 per cent or even 75 per cent of their salary each month. Photo / Getty Images
Daily Mail
Thousands of middle-earners are retiring in their forties with no mortgage and £25,000 ($50,000) a year to spend, it was revealed today.
Experts say anyone can "go from broke to never needing to work again" by saving 50 per cent or even 75 per cent of their salary each month.
These "super-savers" then invest it in property and low-risk shares for ten to 20 years and bank the profits every year, according to the Daily Mail.
The financial independence retire early [FIRE] formula - an idea born in the US - is inspiring thousands in the UK to achieve the ultimate aspiration of giving up work.
Experts say you need a nest egg equivalent to 25 times your annual salary to retire early.
This means that if you must have £25,000-a-year ($50,000) to live on you need to work towards a nest egg of £625,000 ($1.25m) made up of savings and returns from investments or buy-to-let properties.
If it is £50,000 ($100,000) then that amount grows to £1.25million ($2.5m).
The other battle line is to eliminate a mortgage using the half of the salary people don't save.
The Holy Grail for anyone who wants to leave work before 65 is saving - because if you want a scatter-cash lifestyle then you will pay for it in many more years at work.
Many take their inspiration from the 5:2 diet, meaning for full five days of the week they do not spend a penny only allowing themselves to have any outlays on the other two days.
London accountant Barney Whiter, a married father-of-three from Farnham, Surrey, walked away from work at 43 by saving half his annual salary after tax.
He then invested all of it in low-risk stock market funds and shares, bringing in up to 12 per cent return every year for 19 years while also paying down his mortgage.
A big house, eating out, expensive holidays, new cars, cable TV and non-essential shopping were all banned so the Whiter family could stick to their £24,000-a-year ($48,000) budget for all spending.
Frugal Mr Whiter made sure he built up a net worth of 25 times his annual spend - £625,000 ($1.25m) - in savings and investments.
And the result was retirement around 20 years before his colleagues, which he said 'is the best thing since slice bread'.
He told The Times: "If you can save 50 per cent of your take-home pay, it will take 19 years to go from broke to never needing to work again. If you can save 75 per cent, it will take seven to eight years.
"You need to have the mentality of a marathon runner or triathlete and be able to delay gratification. For most people money is leaking out of their life like a bucket shot full of holes".
There is an army of super-savers in the UK, many gaining inspiration from U.S. and British websites that advise on how to become mortgage-free early.
More than 100,000 people are said to be using blogs produced by FIRE proponents including Mr Whiter, who calls himself "The Escape Artist".
Earlier this year more than 900 people tried to get into a London pub to hear a talk about the formula, spearheaded by Canadian Peter Adeney, who retired at 30.
Mr Adeney's blog Mr Money Moustache gives people a step-by-step guide to retiring in a decade or less.
Mr Whiter threw all his energy behind his plan to retire in his forties.
He drove a battered second hand Skoda for years and cut spending to the bone while his children, now teenagers, grew up.
But he insists it was all worth it.
He said: "Tasting freedom is the most intoxicating thing and I wouldn't ever go back to full-time work. I'd rather cut my lifestyle back. My highest value is freedom and self-determination and being able to do what I want to do".
How to retire in your forties without earning a fortune
18 Sep, 2018 6:30am
4 minutes to read
Experts say anyone can "go from broke to never needing to work again" by saving 50 per cent or even 75 per cent of their salary each month. Photo / Getty Images
Daily Mail
Thousands of middle-earners are retiring in their forties with no mortgage and £25,000 ($50,000) a year to spend, it was revealed today.
Experts say anyone can "go from broke to never needing to work again" by saving 50 per cent or even 75 per cent of their salary each month.
These "super-savers" then invest it in property and low-risk shares for ten to 20 years and bank the profits every year, according to the Daily Mail.
The financial independence retire early [FIRE] formula - an idea born in the US - is inspiring thousands in the UK to achieve the ultimate aspiration of giving up work.
Experts say you need a nest egg equivalent to 25 times your annual salary to retire early.
This means that if you must have £25,000-a-year ($50,000) to live on you need to work towards a nest egg of £625,000 ($1.25m) made up of savings and returns from investments or buy-to-let properties.
If it is £50,000 ($100,000) then that amount grows to £1.25million ($2.5m).
The other battle line is to eliminate a mortgage using the half of the salary people don't save.
The Holy Grail for anyone who wants to leave work before 65 is saving - because if you want a scatter-cash lifestyle then you will pay for it in many more years at work.
Many take their inspiration from the 5:2 diet, meaning for full five days of the week they do not spend a penny only allowing themselves to have any outlays on the other two days.
London accountant Barney Whiter, a married father-of-three from Farnham, Surrey, walked away from work at 43 by saving half his annual salary after tax.
He then invested all of it in low-risk stock market funds and shares, bringing in up to 12 per cent return every year for 19 years while also paying down his mortgage.
A big house, eating out, expensive holidays, new cars, cable TV and non-essential shopping were all banned so the Whiter family could stick to their £24,000-a-year ($48,000) budget for all spending.
Frugal Mr Whiter made sure he built up a net worth of 25 times his annual spend - £625,000 ($1.25m) - in savings and investments.
And the result was retirement around 20 years before his colleagues, which he said 'is the best thing since slice bread'.
He told The Times: "If you can save 50 per cent of your take-home pay, it will take 19 years to go from broke to never needing to work again. If you can save 75 per cent, it will take seven to eight years.
"You need to have the mentality of a marathon runner or triathlete and be able to delay gratification. For most people money is leaking out of their life like a bucket shot full of holes".
There is an army of super-savers in the UK, many gaining inspiration from U.S. and British websites that advise on how to become mortgage-free early.
More than 100,000 people are said to be using blogs produced by FIRE proponents including Mr Whiter, who calls himself "The Escape Artist".
Earlier this year more than 900 people tried to get into a London pub to hear a talk about the formula, spearheaded by Canadian Peter Adeney, who retired at 30.
Mr Adeney's blog Mr Money Moustache gives people a step-by-step guide to retiring in a decade or less.
Mr Whiter threw all his energy behind his plan to retire in his forties.
He drove a battered second hand Skoda for years and cut spending to the bone while his children, now teenagers, grew up.
But he insists it was all worth it.
He said: "Tasting freedom is the most intoxicating thing and I wouldn't ever go back to full-time work. I'd rather cut my lifestyle back. My highest value is freedom and self-determination and being able to do what I want to do".
7 main differences between winners and losers.
To make things simple to understand.
Have a good job, save enough money and retire happy
Have a good job, save enough money and retire happy
I heard from my friend after you have set aside the full retirement sum in the retirement account i.e. $60,000, you also cannot use the 1st $20,000 in OA and 1st $40,000 in the SA. So total we have to lock in $60,000+$20,000+$40,000 = $120,000 - un-touchable still age 65... is that right?
Anything less than $2 million is insufficient for retirement so whatever sinkies have in CPF does nothing more than add some icing to the retirement cake.
Sg is cradle to grave with debts; unforseeable cpf....if you like it.
Just sharing an article:
https://www.henrymakow.com/2018/11/what-we-cant-measure.html
We Can't Measure Everything in Dollars
November 29, 2018
What we can't measure
in dollars
defines us as human
I asked a wealthy friend why he doesn't retire and enjoy life. He said money was "a way of keeping score."
He is typical of many people who fear starving someday although they are never hungry.
How many of us evaluate our day in terms of how much money we made or lost?
Most of humanity is held in money's thrall. The central bankers are the puppeteers; we are their puppets. We are
enchained by our material desires.
The problem is psychological. Enough is always a little more than one has.
I am not talking about people who live paycheck to paycheck. They can be forgiven for fretting. I am talking about people who have ample income and savings yet are identified with their money. The more they have, the better they feel.
What does money look like? It's a virtual reality, a measure of value based on demand. It can transform into cash or any commodity or service in a second but mostly it resides as digits in a ledger kept by the bankers. People spend their lives moving these digits up and down although the amount usually has little bearing on their lives.
When we think about money, our thoughts are like prison bars. We enslave ourselves. We lower ourselves to obey its commands.
This is the nature of thought in general. We create our own misery by our thoughts and what we devote our attention to. We need to censor our thoughts. We need to renounce the world, live within our means and not think about money.
Because
Money can't buy time.
Money can't buy health.
or love
or a feeling of well being
or self-worth
or the satisfaction of a job well done
or genuine friendship
or peace of mind
or self-discipline
or justice, peace and order
or the respect of others
We become what we love. Who do you love?
https://www.henrymakow.com/2018/11/what-we-cant-measure.html
We Can't Measure Everything in Dollars
November 29, 2018
What we can't measure
in dollars
defines us as human
I asked a wealthy friend why he doesn't retire and enjoy life. He said money was "a way of keeping score."
He is typical of many people who fear starving someday although they are never hungry.
How many of us evaluate our day in terms of how much money we made or lost?
Most of humanity is held in money's thrall. The central bankers are the puppeteers; we are their puppets. We are
enchained by our material desires.
The problem is psychological. Enough is always a little more than one has.
I am not talking about people who live paycheck to paycheck. They can be forgiven for fretting. I am talking about people who have ample income and savings yet are identified with their money. The more they have, the better they feel.
What does money look like? It's a virtual reality, a measure of value based on demand. It can transform into cash or any commodity or service in a second but mostly it resides as digits in a ledger kept by the bankers. People spend their lives moving these digits up and down although the amount usually has little bearing on their lives.
When we think about money, our thoughts are like prison bars. We enslave ourselves. We lower ourselves to obey its commands.
This is the nature of thought in general. We create our own misery by our thoughts and what we devote our attention to. We need to censor our thoughts. We need to renounce the world, live within our means and not think about money.
Because
Money can't buy time.
Money can't buy health.
or love
or a feeling of well being
or self-worth
or the satisfaction of a job well done
or genuine friendship
or peace of mind
or self-discipline
or justice, peace and order
or the respect of others
We become what we love. Who do you love?
Here's why you need $2m saved for a comfortable retirement
Janine Starks05:00, Dec 01 2018
Westpac's KiwiSaver calculator shows the value of getting started saving early in your working life.
OPINION: Have you ever been at that dinner party where someone throws the retirement grenade?
"How much money do you need for a decent retirement?"
It's casual chat, but ears prick up and napkins rustle as we wonder what fund-size friends and colleagues are aiming for.
Throwing all caveats out the window and removing platitudes to happiness versus cash, I'd spurt-forth with an answer; $2 million. That'll put the rooster in the hen-house.
READ MORE:
* Women fall further behind in retirement savings race
* $101,774 in savings needed at 65, just to get by in retirement
* What to do when your retirement savings fall short
Of course for many New Zealanders $2m seems like a ridiculous number.
Call it what you like, but it's also my honest opinion. For someone with a well-paid professional background who ends their career earning $200,000 a year, that's the amount I'd expect to see in investments.
That means each of us need ten times our final salary in savings to retire.
Ouch. Sorry if it offends, but I can live with that. This model comes from one of the largest US fund managers, Fidelity, and assumes people would like to retire on 45 per cent of their final salary.
MARION VAN DIJK/STUFF
Janine Starks: "Sometimes I wish I told the truth more often."
Middle aged complacency
Sometimes I wish I told the truth more often. Straightforward no cotton-wool answers are uncomfortable. They risk alienating or disincentivising those who are doing their best to scrape up any retirement fund.
Are you aged 40? Then you should already have three times your annual salary in savings. 50? There should be six times your salary in a retirement fund already. Haven't started saving yet? If that's the case and you're a 50-year-old, you need to put away half your annual salary.
Rules-of-thumb are as dangerous as they are useful, but I'm relaxed if they serve as a poke and make people save more. The proper thing to do is to take financial advice and review your plan every year to get a personalised model.
In New Zealand our savings scheme is only 10 years old and we don't like scaring people off. We like to educate and encourage. Yet we run the risk of simply not telling the financial truth in a forceful enough way.
KiwiSaver has the option of investing 3, 4 or 8 per cent of your salary with a further 3 per cent coming from an employer. It's inadequate.
In the past I've suggested 10 per cent should be the minimum and then taken cover behind a rock while I got pelted for numbers that many families simply can't afford.
No one wants to scare the masses, but there are plenty of middle-class professionals who need a jolly good fright and some strong direction. It's time to take the gloves off.
No one wants to scare the masses, but there are plenty of middle-class professionals who need a jolly good fright and some strong direction, if they are to have a happy retirement.
You need to save 15 per cent of your salary from the age of 25, or 23 per cent if you didn't start until you were 35.
For professional couples in their 50s, ask yourself why you aren't turbo-saving and stashing away one whole salary to play catch-up?
Lifestyle inflation
Those aged in their 40s and 50s run a high risk of complacency.
Mortgages are paid off, salaries rise and disposable income swells. The risk is your lifestyle swells as well. It's called lifestyle inflation. The temptation of a new car, upsizing a property and having a relaxed attitude to family holidays are all culprits, along with university costs and house deposits for children.
"We can afford it" is lovely to hear, but I seldom truly believe it. Life is all about individual choices and some people prefer to live-and-give now and have a very restrained retirement. Others don't even realise they're making that decision.
The simple rules provided by the salary multiplier model can make you stop, think, review and then spend. If you are 50, do you have six times your current salary in savings? Think carefully about your choices if not.
These numbers are supported by one of the largest US retirement fund managers, Fidelity. While the assumptions behind the calculations won't apply fully to New Zealanders, they're close enough for a general discussion. The salary multiplier model assumes wage growth of 1.5 per cent a year during your life, an age of death of 93 and the fund providing retirement income of 45 per cent of your pre-retirement final salary from age 67 with a 90 per cent confidence level.
Life is all about individual choices and some people prefer to live-and-give now and have a very restrained retirement. Others don't even realise they're making that decision.
Building retirement savings
Age 30: 1 x annual salary
Age 40: 3 x annual salary
Age 50: 6 x annual salary
Age 60: 8 x annual salary
Age 67: 10 x annual salary
Janine Starks is a financial commentator with expertise in banking, personal finance and funds management. Opinions in this column represent her personal views. They are general in nature and are not a recommendation, opinion or guidance to any individuals in relation to acquiring or disposing of a financial product. Readers should not rely on these opinions and should always seek specific independent financial advice appropriate to their own individual circumstances.
Stuff
Janine Starks05:00, Dec 01 2018
Westpac's KiwiSaver calculator shows the value of getting started saving early in your working life.
OPINION: Have you ever been at that dinner party where someone throws the retirement grenade?
"How much money do you need for a decent retirement?"
It's casual chat, but ears prick up and napkins rustle as we wonder what fund-size friends and colleagues are aiming for.
Throwing all caveats out the window and removing platitudes to happiness versus cash, I'd spurt-forth with an answer; $2 million. That'll put the rooster in the hen-house.
READ MORE:
* Women fall further behind in retirement savings race
* $101,774 in savings needed at 65, just to get by in retirement
* What to do when your retirement savings fall short
Of course for many New Zealanders $2m seems like a ridiculous number.
Call it what you like, but it's also my honest opinion. For someone with a well-paid professional background who ends their career earning $200,000 a year, that's the amount I'd expect to see in investments.
That means each of us need ten times our final salary in savings to retire.
Ouch. Sorry if it offends, but I can live with that. This model comes from one of the largest US fund managers, Fidelity, and assumes people would like to retire on 45 per cent of their final salary.
MARION VAN DIJK/STUFF
Janine Starks: "Sometimes I wish I told the truth more often."
Middle aged complacency
Sometimes I wish I told the truth more often. Straightforward no cotton-wool answers are uncomfortable. They risk alienating or disincentivising those who are doing their best to scrape up any retirement fund.
Are you aged 40? Then you should already have three times your annual salary in savings. 50? There should be six times your salary in a retirement fund already. Haven't started saving yet? If that's the case and you're a 50-year-old, you need to put away half your annual salary.
Rules-of-thumb are as dangerous as they are useful, but I'm relaxed if they serve as a poke and make people save more. The proper thing to do is to take financial advice and review your plan every year to get a personalised model.
In New Zealand our savings scheme is only 10 years old and we don't like scaring people off. We like to educate and encourage. Yet we run the risk of simply not telling the financial truth in a forceful enough way.
KiwiSaver has the option of investing 3, 4 or 8 per cent of your salary with a further 3 per cent coming from an employer. It's inadequate.
In the past I've suggested 10 per cent should be the minimum and then taken cover behind a rock while I got pelted for numbers that many families simply can't afford.
No one wants to scare the masses, but there are plenty of middle-class professionals who need a jolly good fright and some strong direction. It's time to take the gloves off.
No one wants to scare the masses, but there are plenty of middle-class professionals who need a jolly good fright and some strong direction, if they are to have a happy retirement.
You need to save 15 per cent of your salary from the age of 25, or 23 per cent if you didn't start until you were 35.
For professional couples in their 50s, ask yourself why you aren't turbo-saving and stashing away one whole salary to play catch-up?
Lifestyle inflation
Those aged in their 40s and 50s run a high risk of complacency.
Mortgages are paid off, salaries rise and disposable income swells. The risk is your lifestyle swells as well. It's called lifestyle inflation. The temptation of a new car, upsizing a property and having a relaxed attitude to family holidays are all culprits, along with university costs and house deposits for children.
"We can afford it" is lovely to hear, but I seldom truly believe it. Life is all about individual choices and some people prefer to live-and-give now and have a very restrained retirement. Others don't even realise they're making that decision.
The simple rules provided by the salary multiplier model can make you stop, think, review and then spend. If you are 50, do you have six times your current salary in savings? Think carefully about your choices if not.
These numbers are supported by one of the largest US retirement fund managers, Fidelity. While the assumptions behind the calculations won't apply fully to New Zealanders, they're close enough for a general discussion. The salary multiplier model assumes wage growth of 1.5 per cent a year during your life, an age of death of 93 and the fund providing retirement income of 45 per cent of your pre-retirement final salary from age 67 with a 90 per cent confidence level.
Life is all about individual choices and some people prefer to live-and-give now and have a very restrained retirement. Others don't even realise they're making that decision.
Building retirement savings
Age 30: 1 x annual salary
Age 40: 3 x annual salary
Age 50: 6 x annual salary
Age 60: 8 x annual salary
Age 67: 10 x annual salary
Janine Starks is a financial commentator with expertise in banking, personal finance and funds management. Opinions in this column represent her personal views. They are general in nature and are not a recommendation, opinion or guidance to any individuals in relation to acquiring or disposing of a financial product. Readers should not rely on these opinions and should always seek specific independent financial advice appropriate to their own individual circumstances.
Stuff
KNN retirement topic can be found all over the internet but strangely there is not much mentioning of per capita retirement amount required vs retirement amount with dependent KNN therefore till today most people are confused or unsure of the min actual required amount KNN
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