Own a home sooner and build wealth through property so you can retire comfortably

The saying “there’s no time like the present” has been described as a genuine, empowering understanding of the reality of time. It opens lots of potential & possibilities.

So why not seize the day by taking action towards your finance wellbeing?

Here are a few steps you can take right now to help you to own a home sooner and build wealth though property so you can retire comfortably.

1. Review your home loan

If you have an owner-occupied loan, you should be reviewing this regularly and we recommend that this happens at least every 12 months. If you don’t have a mortgage broker, diarise a time to  do this and be sure that the review occurs.

Your review should have consideration to:

• Your interest rate

There may be opportunities for you to save money on your home loan by refinancing to a lender offering a lower interest rate.

• Your plan for paying off your home loan faster.

If you do what most Australians do, you will take out a home loan over a 30-year term, setting yourself up to pay back your lender double the amount you borrowed with interest expenses.

There are simple strategies that you could implement right now to save more than 20 years off the life of a loan. If you don’t know these strategies, talk to a Finance Strategist today.

2. Review your budget

Again, we recommend that you review your budget at least once per year, or as things change to your personal circumstances that impact your household income and expenses.

This is important because:

• As life happens and things change, you’ll need to continue to meet your expenses and provide for your family.
• You’ll likely identify that there’s unnecessary spending that could instead be redirected to paying off your home loan faster and/or investing.

3. Review your protection

Unexpected health issues like cancer, heart attack, stroke, and even premature death are an unfortunate reality for most Australians at some point in their lives.

An event like this can have a significant financial impact, so it’s important to understand how much protection you need, and how much you currently have.

Taking out appropriate levels of Life, Trauma, Total & Permanent Disability, and Income Protection Insurance can protect you and your family financially.

This is something a financial adviser could help you with.

4. Review your superannuation

Superannuation is considered very tax effective.

All lump sum and pension payments from your superannuation are tax free after age 60. In addition, earnings on investments in superannuation are taxed at a maximum of 15%.

Further, if you are employed, your employer must pay 11.5% of your salary into super (scheduled to go up to 12% on 1 July 2025).

These are some compelling reasons to review your superannuation regularly to ensure you are on track to have “enough” money to retire on.

Did you know that you can buy an investment property through your superannuation?

Questions to ask yourself right now are:

1. At what age do I want to retire?
2. How much money do I want each year in retirement?
3. How much am I likely to have in superannuation if I keep doing what I am doing?
4. If I don’t think I will have enough money to retire on, what do I need to do (i.e. what strategy do I need) so I will have enough money to retire on?
5. Do I want to be debt free when I retire (i.e. no home loan)? If so, what’s my strategy?

Planning for your retirement is complex, and everyone’s situation is different. Think about getting personalised advice from a Financial Adviser to help you plan ahead.

5. Set goals.

Setting financial goals is fundamental to being financially successful. So, what’s important to you? Is it to pay off my home loan faster? Is it to retire comfortably? Is it to have more options in life? Would you like to set your kids up for financial success and/or pass on wealth to the next generation?

Next, think about why achieving the goal is important to you. This will help you to stay motivated and on track.

When thinking about your goals, try to turn them into SMART goals which are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound.

For example, I want to pay off my home loan (current balance of x) by (insert date). This is important to me because…