Financial information that’s key to your retirement lifestyle

What do you want to do when you grow up? Before you think I’m talking to the wrong crowd, I am indeed talking to you. You who has spent the greater part of life earning a crust, you who has raised a family and now find yourself with an empty nest, you who might still need to maintain your employment. Whatever stage you’re at now, the next stage is all about time for yourself.

Many Starts at 60 readers would identify with one of the above situations. We know that, which is why we created our Reinventing Retirement program, to help stimulate the activities you might like to undertake in your later life.

Put your hand up if you’re looking at stepping back from your work life so that you can invest in a business or creative venture of your own. Are you more likely to be someone who stops work completely and gives time to others voluntarily or supports your family caring for grandchildren or an older loved on? Maybe you’ve been putting money away so that when the time is right, you can start ticking destinations off your travel bucket list.

We know that long gone are the traditional ideas of retirement. Instead there is a new generation of retirees who want to remain active, because retirees today have more knowledge of how they want to spend their time.

Recently, we heard wonderful stories of how some of our Starts at 60 community members are preparing for retirement. There was one couple who were in the throes of selling the family home to retire internationally; they spoke about how they were selling up belongings they no longer needed, arranging for storage for the things they wanted to hold onto, and finalising residency permits. Another community member detailed how she’d given up life in the city for a tree-change and had embarked on two new careers, inspired by her passions — one as a bed and breakfast host and the other as a published author.

Others told of their love of freedom now that retirement was looming. One 60-something told us about how she had scaled back to part-time work and enjoyed her days off indulging in a range of activities, including coffee with friends, walks along the beach and time spent with her grandchildren.

Several retired community members said this new phase of life offered them a chance to learn and, of course, travel. It must be an amazing feeling to be faced with such possibilities.

Retirement dreams aside, you need enough money to achieve whatever those goals are, and that takes planning. We recognise that just as the interests of our Starts at 60 community are different, so too will your needs be when it comes to information about money and finance. There will be those who are moving into retirement (or have retired) in lush comfort, while others have concerns about being confined to a strict retirement income. Our Money at 60 channel is dedicated to providing you with financial information that is key to your retirement lifestyle.

Currently, we are looking for over-60s to share real life retirement budgets to help retirees in the Starts at 60 community get an honest picture of what it means to manage your money on a day-to-day basis in retirement. We are keen to hear from retirees in our community — no matter your budget or financial circumstances.

Naturally, anyone who chooses to take part in this opportunity, absolute anonymity is assured. All identifying details will be removed.

We feel it’s important to get honest and real information from our community about how much you are living on, how and what you prioritise your spending on, and how and where you prefer to save your money if you can. If you’d like to know more or would like to provide your ‘real life retirement budget’, please email the Starts at 60 Money Club at [email protected].

We hope that through our real-life stories, helpful insights, expert opinion and Q&As, Starts at 60 is providing proactive ways for you to manage your money, now and into retirement.