The best retirement advice, from those who’ve already done it

We asked the retired members of the epic retirement community to share their best retirement tips last week and we were blown away with their advice. Plus, more letters!

In this edition

• Feature article: The best retirement advice, from those who’ve already done it

• Prime Time Podcast: How the brain changes as we age, and what we can do about it with Prof. Nancy Pachana

• The Epic Retirement Course: An update on our 11 March release - it’s booking up well

• Some awesome letters

• From Bec’s Desk: A short update

The best retirement advice, from those who’ve already done it

The people who are already retired in our Epic Retirement Facebook Group have really stepped up over the last week to guide those who have not yet retired. And the advice is just so good I could not resist sharing some of it. So this week’s newsletter is exactly that - the best advice on retirement from the Epic Retirement Community. 

There’s more than 167 pieces of advice on this post right now and it just keeps on building. Here’s my favourites. 

1. Keep your interests and social connections happening. Don't try to watch telly all day, do something, anything that interests you. [Dave Smith]

2. Look for coffee mornings in your local area, it's a way of meeting people.  Enjoy the freedom to do what you want, it's a bit strange at first not going to work but before you know it you wonder how you had time to fit in work. [Dale Maltby]

3. Transition to retirement by going part time first and not until the age of 60+. Before then you have to reinvent yourself socially as everyone is still working. [Trish Bednarski]

4. Start a good exercise routine or go to a gym. Taking care of your health is important. [Donna Medlin]

5. Best advice, see a financial advisor before retirement to look into your super and see where you stand when it is combined with perhaps a full pension or part pension. Have a plan to keep physically active, socially active and mentally active. You'll wonder how you had time to go to work. [Susan Taylor]

6. Retirement is such a wonderful time. Embrace the opportunities. I am thoroughly enjoying my third age. The 3 most important things for me are:

   1. ensuring I am working on a really healthy lifestyle

   2. making sure my finances fit my planned retirement activities

   3. being involved in community volunteering and socialising. [Sue Fairley]

7. Get your credit cards sorted, increase your limits if required, otherwise you may find it next to impossible to do so after retirement as you have no income. Banks don’t consider an income stream as income. Sort your mortgage out if you have one too, negotiating a better rate or refinancing before leaving work. [Terry Scully]

8. Structure your day. I’ve just expanded the time I spend doing what I enjoy. I get up a bit later, read more, walk further, meet friends more often etc. I also volunteer and I’ve joined U3A (lots of activities and nice people!). [Juliet Viney]

9. I would say DON'T pay off your mortgage, leave it FULLY OFFSET instead... You’ll never be able to borrow again and having a big pot of just in case money available is wonderful. No interest to pay, the monthly payment comes from the offset so no need to find it but we have $300k of just in case money.... We remortgaged to the offset around a year ago and I pull the pin on my job at Easter at 58. [Mark Hutchens]

10. I think the best thing is to see a financial advisor. We did before we retired and he was great. He did some things that we wouldn’t have realised we should be doing, particularly with our super. It really put our minds at ease, which helped so much with retirement. I absolutely love being retired. Your time is your own. No more working to a timetable…. [Pat Wilson]

11. Study the process and know what you are entitled to. If your employer makes a mistake or something is different than you expected, it most likely will not be in your favour. My employer tried to cheat me out of unused sick time, but I prevailed. [Bruce Kwiatkowski]

12. I kept all my long service. It equalled 13 weeks. I also kept all holidays for last 2 years. I asked the pay mistress to pay it weekly not one lump sum therefore i was still getting a weekly pay for about 4 months after I left. Which gave me time to transition my money. [Lea Cleland]

13. There will be a transition period where you wonder will I/we have enough. There will be frugality. Then eventually you will relax into it, find new adventures to be had and start spending on yourself/yourselves. [Marion Thompson]

14. If you are financially secure do volunteer work. Being of service to others is good for us. [Julie Gilbert]

15. It’s essential you find things to do. Learn the guitar, paint, sew anything or you’ll go bonkers. [Janene Lazzaro]

16. You retire from WORK. You don't retire from LIFE. Plan ahead. Don't be afraid to become engaged in activities outside of your comfort zone. Give everything new a go. You may surprise yourself. [Robert Silvestrini]

17. I’m using the time (and $) before retirement to invest in capital items that will reduce our cost of living - solar system, all electric appliances, upgraded insulation, and an electric car. Our energy costs, including transport are now less than $50 a month and our emissions are significantly reduced. [Michelle Archard]

18. See a financial advisor! Ask friends for references. Ours gave us so many hints we had no idea about. Applied for a pension for me which arrived 10 days later. Now we have rented out our house stored our stuff and moving to Bali next week! Bring it on! [Sue Ralph]

19. The best bit of advice someone told me was to ‘Retire to something, not from something’. [Gail Purcell]

20. Apply for the seniors card and seniors opal card (if in NSW, Australia)! I can travel all day on public transport for $2.50 per day. [Nicola Christie]

Have you got some to add? Consider putting them here on the comments of this article. Or pop on over to our Facebook post and add yours to this post.

Our brain health is something we all treasure but often take for granted. And as we age, we really need to know how to look after our brain health better. So this week I spoke with Professor Nancy Pachana a renowned clinical neuropsychologist, geropsychologist and professor at The University of Queensland. She knows everything there is to know about what happens as your brain ages, and how to keep it young. 

LISTEN HERE - LATEST EDITION (E13) - OMNY or listen on APPLE PODCASTS or SPOTIFY PODCASTS 

I have been blown away by how many of you have booked for the 6 week How to Have an Epic Retirement Flagship Course. With so many people attending our 11th March Kickoff, the community atmosphere is going to be… epic! I can’t wait!

This is the only comprehensive, modern, 6 week 'get ready for retirement' program available in Australia. 

It’s a six week synchronous program (that means we all do it together). It’s designed to build your knowledge and confidence to plan for a modern, epic retirement.

🌴 There's 14 modules/8.5 hours of education videos, dripped by week

🌴 Live Q&As with retirement experts each week

🌴 A practical 85 page digital workbook and quizzes embedded into the weekly program

🌴 An engaging online community for course participants

🌴  And a signed copy of the 2024 edition that has JUST gone to print of How to Have an Epic Retirement - the book (You will get your copy as soon as the print run arrives)

And, the upside is that you get to complete the program alongside a whole cohort approaching retirement. Learn how to make your retirement truly epic and have fun doing it.  

REMEMBER the early bird offer is only live until the 4th March! More here

Hi Bec, We retired in our mid 50's and haven't looked back!

We have a saying if you are having a slow day ...

• Get up

• Get dressed

• Get out

• and do something for someone else! 

It could be something as simple as cooking a meal for your time poor kids or elderly parents. 

We spend a lot of time in our caravan and I pick up rubbish in the towns or on the beaches where we go.  I meet the locals and find it very rewarding. 

After a wonderful career in Nursing,  I'm now a Garbologist and very proud of it too!

My husband still plays a lot of sport. He's always out and about.  If he has a free day, he gives BLOOD!

Thanks for your very positive outlook and sage advice. We continue to learn!

Kind regards Toni

Top tips Toni! Thanks for sharing them with us. I am sure they will inspire others to stay active and engaged too! Bec Xx

---

Dear Bec

Thankyou for your newsletters. They have been really helpful as has your book and I am one of many that love reading other people's letters.

I am in a bit of a dilemma. Am 66 turning 67 in July. I had to suddenly leave work in 2021 to care for my elderly mother who lives with me. My income dropped drastically but have been managing really well and even been able to save. Own my own home and car and have no debts or credit card. My super balance is $450,000. 

Since leaving work I have put about $5000 into super as personal contribution. Currently my bank savings balance is $55,000 which I have kept for emergencies but have not had to tap into.

My question is - is there any advantage to putting some of my savings into Super before July? 

I will need to update my 12yo car in the next few years and would like to remodel my kitchen but other than that I have no other major purchases. Once I am in pension mode am I able to withdraw larger amounts or am I restricted to the estimated $50,000 per year?

Kindest regards Julie

Hi Julie, As you know, I am not a financial adviser, so I can only answer in general terms.

But, for your first question: If a person is not paying a lot of tax in their own name in this financial year then there won’t necessarily be much of a tax benefit from contributing before the 30th June. And it might even be detrimental, depending on their circumstances. Here’s why. When you contribute super into a fund you receive a tax deduction at your marginal rate, but you get taxed on the contribution at 15% and the difference is usually the benefit. If a person isn’t paying tax in their own name, there would be no deduction, only tax on contribution. Please get financial advice on your own personal circumstances.

For the second question: yes you absolutely can make larger withdrawals from superannuation once it is in retirement phase. Once in retirement phase you have a minimum annual drawdown amount (4% up to the age of 65, 5% from 65-75 etc etc) but there is no maximum. So if you want to draw out money for cars, holidays or renovations, you can, as required. Remember, once you spend your superannuation, it won’t be there to generate you an income stream anymore.

Hope this helps! Bec Xx

If you have a letter, please email it to me on bec@epicretirement.com.au. I love to answer them.

An exciting week ahead.

The course is booking well! I’m getting really excited now. Our guest speakers are all organised, our program of activites all locked in, and the tech is all set up. I suspect we’ll only be running 2 or 3, 6 week events a year, so tell your friends, please, and book if it is on your agenda. If you can’t make this one, I’ve put a form on the bottom of the course page to allow you to express interest for a future date.

I sent the 2024 edition of How to Have an Epic Retirement (The book) off to print today with updated numbers on just about everything. After the government updated the concessional and non-concessional contributions last week, it seemed like a good time. Our course participants will get a signed copy as soon as it arrives back from the publisher. It wont take long they assure me!

Finally, I’m off to Adelaide for two Hostplus Retirement events (Retire Ready and the Retirement Forum) - come up and say hi if you’re there! I love to meet our community in person. I’ll hang around in the breaks - promise!

And in between all that I’ve been getting back into my exercise after two weeks on hiatus with a recurring sore neck, which made me too afraid to lift weights. I now hope I’m cured or at least managed it with the magic of botox in the jaw! Amazing what modern medicine can do when you take charge - so far so good. One more mature doctor on my solution-seeking journey wanted me to act my age (as in become less active!) I can’t tell you what I said to him. But you can imagine.🤣

And that’s all that’s going on - I think it’s enough quite frankly. I need time to get to the gym too!

Wishing you a wonderful week! Make it Epic!

Many thanks! Bec Wilson

Author, podcast host, columnist, retirement educator, and guest speaker