You may be starting to think about your retirement and whether you have enough super. Australians are living longer than ever before. So while many of you may have planned for 20 years in retirement, there's a good chance your retirement will last 30 years or longer.

Add to this the impact of the GFC and it becomes clear many investors need to continue growing their super for much longer than they used to. But how do you keep growing your super without the risk of losing your nest egg?

There are solutions that allow to get the certainty you need to stay invested in the market by protecting your super from poor market performance and you can lock in your market gains along the way

Contact us to help you with your retirement savings strategy, we'd be happy to help

We're living longer which means many Australians can look forward to 20 or even 30 years in retirement.

You may be wondering what you'll do with all that time. So if you're aged 56 or over and not sure when you should retire, instead of stopping work altogether it may suit you better to gradually transition to retirement

Many pre-retirees don't want to keep working as much as they have all their lives, but they don't want to retire full time either. Others are concerned that if they cut back their working hours, they won't earn enough to maintain their standard of living.

A transition to retirement pension is a type of account based pension that is available to people aged 56 or over, and gives you access to some of your super as pension income while you're still working.

So if you'd like to work part-time, a transition to retirement pension can help you top-up your reduced salary and maintain your current lifestyle.

Also the income from the pension will attract a generous tax offset between the ages of 56 and 59 and will be tax free once aged 60. So you may need to draw less from your super than you think to replace your previous income

This income can be used to help fund your living expenses and enable you to contribute more of your salary or business income back into super

There are however some caps on how much you contribute to super and a minimum and maximum income you can draw from the pension.

Over time your super will grow to be one of your biggest assets and by now your super balance could be quite large.

But what would happen to that money if you passed away? Unlike some assets you own, your super isn't automatically an estate asset. Also, unless you make certain arrangements, the fund Trustees get to decide who receives the money and this may not reflect your wishes.

One way to achieve greater certainty is to nominate which of your dependants will receive your super. Your choices include your spouse, children or someone that's financially dependent or inter-dependent on you or your estate (where the money will be distributed as per your Will)

The amount of tax payable will depend on which beneficiaries receive the money. A lump sum death benefit paid to your dependents will generally be tax-free. But tax due on lump sum death benefits paid to a non-dependent depends on a number of factors.

It's important you consider completing a beneficiary nomination and keeping it up to date, especially if your family or lifestyle circumstances change.

Contact us to ask us a question or make an appointment to meet with one of our advisers

We'd be happy to help you