A Recipe For Retirement Success

A recipe for retirement success.

You won’t stop growing as an individual in retirement, so your money needs to continue growing as well.

Retirement today means living your best life, and in-depth interviews with 82 retired South Africans in their 60s, 70s and 80s have borne this out. They paint an upbeat picture of retirees who surf, travel, do charity work, study and teach during the proverbial golden years.

Glacier by Sanlam?commissioned the ‘Through the Years’ report to better understand what makes a healthy and fulfilling retirement. The chosen sample of respondents had retired with a relatively comfortable monthly income – to showcase how this can contribute to a full and healthy life after retiring, and how financial planning had contributed to this outcome

Planning is key

Stanleur says that the research showed the one big theme that came through was planning. Successful planning for a happy retirement has four essential components:

1. Financial?security

Money is just one part of a happy retirement, but it’s important. Of the report’s participants who felt reasonably comfortable that they had enough retirement savings, 82% had consulted a financial planner.?Conversely, 75% of those who said they were unsure their retirement savings would be sufficient had not consulted with a financial planner.

Top tips for making your money last

• Draw up a retirement budget in collaboration with a financial adviser.
• Consider taking on part-time work or jumping into the ‘gig’ economy to supplement your income.
• Diversify your investments and review them regularly to make sure your returns are on track.

?

2. Good health

Staying in good physical and mental health is pivotal to enjoying retirement to the fullest. Almost all the retirees cited health as their primary concern.

Top tips for staying healthy

• Ensure you’re financially prepared for every eventuality.
• Diversify your investments and review them regularly to make sure your returns are on track. Think about the future and settle somewhere with care facilities close by.

?

3. Connectedness

Everyone needs meaningful connections with other people, and all the retirees interviewed agreed this is crucial to a happy retirement.

Top tips for stay connected

• Ensure you’re financially prepared for every eventuality.
• Diversify your investments and review them regularly to make sure your returns are on track. Think about the future and settle somewhere with care facilities close by.

?

4. Looking ahead with a positive attitude

To move forward and make the most of retirement, retirees said they needed to come to terms with and accept the past, and look forward to the future.

Top tips to stay?positive

• All retirees recommended having a clear plan for how you’ll fill your days.
• Diversify your investments and review them regularly to make sure your returns are on track. Think about the future and settle somewhere with care facilities close by.

?

Stanleur concludes by saying that the secret to any recipe is making it your own. All the ingredients can be there, but you need to bring them together