Good to Great: How to Scale With an Outsourced CFO

Those happy golden years are getting closer every day. If you're meeting your retirement savings goals, this is an exciting thought. If you've been putting off saving for retirement, the nearness of those happy golden years may cause a little anxiety.

Wherever you are today, however, you can make some changes. Saving for retirement doesn't have to be that difficult. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll meet your goals.

 

Superannuation

Your employer is giving you a boost with your Superannuation account, and required employer contributions have been rising over the past two decades. Even with these required increases, however, Superannuation will not be enough to cover your retirement expenses, especially if you want to maintain your current standard of living.

Still, your Superannuation account is a good building block for your retirement planning. It gives you a foundation to build on. But how do you start building the rest?

 

Make the Salary Sacrifice

It's great that you have super accumulating from your compulsory contributions, but that certainly doesn't prevent you from contributing as well. In fact, to set yourself up for retirement, you should be contributing a voluntary portion of each pay-check to your Super account.

 

 

 

How much? That is an individual decision, and it depends on a number of factors. If your employer offers matching for voluntary contributions, take advantage of this benefit to the fullest. If you know that you'll need additional retirement funds to support dependents or because you have health issues, make the sacrifices now to ensure a comfortable retirement. How do you go about making those sacrifices?

 

Make Budgetary Decisions Today

If it's time for you to start making retirement saving a priority, you may need to make some changes in the way you spend your money now. If you don't already record all of your spending, start making a record today. After a couple of weeks, examine your spending. Do you see areas in which you could cut back and spend less? Could you make your lunch instead of going out for lunch? Could you buy used items instead of new?

As you make cuts to your spending habits, set aside the money you're saving for retirement right away so you're not tempted to spend it. Contribute it to a retirement savings account, or use it to invest in an alternative investment.

 

Consider Other Sources of Income

Other investments, such as real estate and rental properties, can add significantly to your retirement portfolio and diversify your holdings. The money you save from your budget cuts can be put toward alternative investments like real estate as part of your overall retirement plan.

Saving for retirement doesn't have to be difficult. Start today by increasing your contributions to your Super and making small adjustments to your day-to-day budget in order to have more money available for investing. Little changes now will mean big rewards later on when you enjoy your happy golden years.