Retirement planning advice from a licensed adviser.
Most retirement planning advice looks fine on a spreadsheet and break in the first market correction. We build the plan against sequencing risk, longevity, and Centrelink interaction from the start.
The three phases, written in one plan.
A retirement plan is not a single document at age 65. It is three phases that have to line up: how the money goes in, how the work tapers, and how the income is drawn. When a different adviser writes each phase, the joins tend to leak tax. The longer version of this argument sits in our retirement planning guide.
At Opes a single practitioner writes the whole plan. That means one set of files for super, the family home, any investment property, insurance, and the estate. Decisions made in accumulation, including the superannuation contribution strategy, are remembered when we set the pension drawdown 15 years later.
The six pieces of a retirement plan.
We work each piece in writing, then connect them. None of these is a product. Each is a decision that has to be made and revisited.
Accumulation
Working years. Concessional and non-concessional caps used in order, with debt and cash flow held against the same balance sheet.
Transition-to-retirement
From age 60, a TTR pension can let you draw from super while continuing to work. We model the tax outcome before recommending it.
Pension phase
Once you meet a condition of release, super shifts to a tax-free pension up to the transfer balance cap. Drawdowns, asset allocation, and review cadence are set in writing.
Sequencing risk
A poor return in the first few years of retirement does more damage than the same return later. We hold a cash and defensive bucket to ride out a bad sequence.
Longevity risk
Plans built to a fixed end-age tend to leave the client short. We stress-test to age 95 and beyond, including aged care assumptions.
Withdrawal strategy
Which account funds the next $10,000: super pension, accumulation, ASX-listed portfolio, or cash. The order matters for tax and Centrelink.
Withdrawal order matters more than asset selection.
Once you are in retirement, which account funds the next bill is often the highest- value decision of the year. Super pension is tax-free above age 60. Accumulation is not. An ASX-listed portfolio carries franking credits but realises CGT. Cash is flexible but earns next to nothing.
The right order changes with the market, your Age Pension entitlement, and any one-off expenses. We set the default order in the Statement of Advice and review it each year. Where direct-property exposure suits the household, the same practitioner writes the SMSF strategy and lending alongside it.
- Super pension drawdown rate
- Lump-sum withdrawals
- Re-contribution strategy
- Franking credit refunds
- CGT realisation timing
- Age Pension thresholds
Frequently asked questions.
Useful conversations begin 10 to 15 years out. The contribution caps are annual and they cannot be backfilled later. Most of the lifting in a retirement plan happens between age 45 and 60.
The transfer balance cap limits how much super can move into a tax-free retirement pension. For most clients it is the binding constraint on pension-phase strategy, and it indexes over time. The current figure and your personal cap are confirmed in the Statement of Advice.
Sometimes. The tax benefit was reduced in 2017 and TTR is no longer a default win. It can still help in narrow circumstances: cutting hours, salary sacrificing more aggressively, or bridging to age 60. We will tell you if the maths is not there.
Yes. SMSF advice and SMSF lending are both available under the same practitioner. The SMSF page covers the structure in more detail.
Continue reading
- Financial planning overviewThe pillar page. How a Statement of Advice is delivered.
- Superannuation adviceFund choice, consolidation, contribution strategy.
- Centrelink optimisationAsset and income test structuring for the Age Pension.
- Aged care planningRAD, DAP, means testing, and the family conversation.
- SMSF advice and lendingTwo authorisations under one adviser.
- Retirement planning hubThe cross-pillar view: super, SMSF, insurance, and aged care.
Information on this page is general in nature. It does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation, or needs. Read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and consider whether personal advice is appropriate before acting on any information here.
Time to write the retirement plan?
An initial conversation is free and obligation-free. Bring your last super statement and a rough budget.