When should I retire?

Early retirement

Sometimes you may be forced to retire early due to ill health or injury. While this wasn’t your long-term plan, we can definitely help guide you through the financial impacts of early retirement.

If you do need to retire early here are some things you should consider:

• Make an appointment with a financial planner about maximising your super
• Find out if you can receive a regular income, through a Retirement Income account; or if you should withdraw your super and potentially increase the tax-free component
• Check your insurance cover through First Super, you may be eligible to claim a total and permanent disablement benefit
• Check whether you meet the conditions for early release of super
• Seek personal financial advice about Government benefits you may be able to claim

Easing into retirement

Some people prefer to finish their job and retire all on the one day, while others prefer to gradually move into retirement.

Transition to Retirement is a strategy allowing you to slowly move towards retirement.

It can be used in different ways helping you to top-up your super before you retire, or by reducing your working hours and using your super to top-up your income.

Find out more about a transition to retirement strategy or arrange a chat with one of our financial planners at no cost to you.

Full retirement

To work out when is the right time to retire you need to consider your own personal situation.

Here are some questions you need to consider:

1. How much super have I saved? Login to firstonline to find out
2. Do I have enough super?
3. When can I access my super?
4. Have I reached my Preservation Age?
5. How many more years will I be able to successfully do my job?
6. Will I need to access the Age Pension and am I eligible?
7. How will I spend my retirement and what lifestyle do I want?

Working through each of these questions will help you get an idea of what you need to consider in retirement.

Pre-retirement checklist

Here’s a handy checklist to make sure your super is in good shape, ready for the big day:

• Investment options – Check your investment strategy is still right for you. Strategies can change as you near retirement
• Nominate a beneficiary – check your beneficiary nominations are up to date and consider making a binding nomination
• Retirement health check – book in for a complimentary super or retirement health check, it’s included as part of your membership, so won’t cost you anything extra
• Financial advice – a personal financial plan from our financial planning team could make a big difference to your retirement. There’s no fee for an initial meeting where a financial planner can explain the next steps available to you

Transition to retirement

A ‘transition to retirement’ strategy allows you to receive a regular income from your First Super TTR account while contributing your salary to super.

It offers some pretty good tax advantages and can even allow you to reduce your working hours while maintaining the same income.

Retirement Income Account

Converting your super to a First Super Retirement Income Account in retirement allows you to receive regular, flexible income payments.

Your super savings are invested in your chosen investment options, so they continue to earn investment returns, helping your retirement savings go further