Close to retirement? Do the numbers actually work?

Where do you stand? Tick what you have already dealt with.

Be honest. The questions you cannot answer are the ones to deal with while you still have years to act.

• 1 Define the life you are funding Aim at a life, not a number. A number without a life behind it is a guess.
• 2 Know where your income will come from KiwiSaver, NZ Super, investments, property: list every source and how certain it is.
• 3 Test whether the numbers actually work One projection is not a plan. Test earlier and later retirement, and lower returns.
• 4 Decide what happens to the mortgage and debt Carrying debt into retirement is a decision, not a default.
• 5 Protect yourself against a bad start Poor markets in the first years of drawing down do outsized damage.
• 6 Plan for health and care costs Care costs are uncertain and large. Ignoring them does not make them go away.
• 7 Plan the transition, not just the date Phased retirement and a year or two more work can change the outcome more than any investment.
• 8 Sort your estate and legal affairs Documents from twenty years ago rarely still fit. Your partner should be able to run things.

A checklist tells you what to ask. A plan tells you what to do.

If you left several boxes empty, that is normal, and it is the reason a written plan exists. See what a Statement of Advice looks like, or browse the other free tools.