Starting your wealth journey can begin at any stage. The younger the better. Your 30s, 40s, and 50s are the prime wealth building corridors. At Step Up, now AFPG, we work with individuals, couples, and families in this age growth corridor to develop a strategically driven financial plan that meets financial milestones along the way and sets up a desired retirement.
What is a wealth corridor?
In our 30s to 50s, we are more likely to be in the peak years of earning capacity. It is a generalisation, but the stats from the Bureau of Statistics are solid. It is also the corridor when Australians are at their most inventive and under the most financial pressure, good and bad. This age group is more likely to start a business, think about a Self Managed Super Fund, have children and a mortgage, and juggle their careers while balancing family life and other grown-up responsibilities. It is a complex time, and while there are always exceptions, it is when people need to elevate their financial awareness and literacy, and if possible, seek financial planning advice.
“Relying on superannuation only and going along, living week to week, will leave you short.”
Financial planning is more than setting a budget
On average, if you’ve just turned 30, you have 25-30 years to make your financial mark. This decreases with age; if you’ve recently turned 40, it declines to 15-20 years, and so on. Compounding this stress are your expenses. They just increase. If you have a family, expenses swell as they do.
While a budget is essential to meeting your monthly outgoings, a long-term financial plan is critical to meet your retirement needs. As a rule of thumb, you’ll need upward of AUD$600K, not including your family home, to retire. To retire comfortably, the figure is over AUD$1M. Relying on superannuation only and going along, living week to week, will leave you short. The average Australian will retire with a superannuation balance of approximately $440K, which is somewhat frightening.
If you’ve been thinking about professional financial planning advice, this should jolt you into action.
You don’t know what you don’t know
While financial literacy has grown over the past 20 years, knowing you need to make a financial plan and having the skills to develop and execute that plan are different things. You need to be ahead of investment strategies, tax and estate planning, managing risk, and have a clear roadmap to follow.
You need to know how much you can put into your plan, where to put it, and where you can make disciplined adjustments to your lifestyle to give the plan greater incentive.
You need clarity and perspective on what options best suit you: high or low risk, a Self-Managed Super Fund, or staying with an industry or retail super fund. Is it worth investing in shares, bricks and mortar, or alternative asset classes? You also need to manage your personal finances and develop an emergency fund.
This sounds like a lot, which is why sitting with a qualified financial planner is so important. They see the blind spots and unearth opportunities that fit your risk tolerance and personal circumstances. They’re not there to tell you what you should do but to guide and advise you on what you can do.
Oh! And don’t forget you want to know what you want for your retirement. Overseas travel, a holiday house, a motorhome, or buy your kids a home. This is about you, and while retirement may feel a long way off, it is closer than you think.
“This is about you, and while retirement may feel a long way off, it is closer than you think.”
Not just the numbers
While the team here at Step Up, now AFPG, are numbers people, we are here to guide and advise. Here we’ve talked about retirement, but we can also help you get your immediate financial situation back on track if required.
We want to see you on a financial path that makes sense, meets your milestones, and gives you peace of mind. We are on the financial journey with you. If you’re in your 30s, 40s, or 50s you’re peaking, but you’re also very busy, most likely concerned about your finances, and need a plan. A meeting with us is just the tonic.
We can help
Step Up Financial Group, now AFPG, is a team of qualified financial specialists. We help hundreds of Australians create financial stability and resilience every year while building toward a confident retirement.
Contact us today for experienced, compassionate, and professional financial planning advice.