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Most of us expect to retire one day, yet few of us really think about the impact of retirement on our financial security. This is surprising, considering that wecould spend a third of our lives as retirees.

Whether retirement is still several years away or just around the corner, you should start thinking about what you’d like to achieve in the years following full time employment.

Your lifestyle in retirement will be largely governed by your financial position.

That’s why it’s so important to start planning for your financial security as soon as possible.

It’s suggested that you should aim to have about 60 - 80 per cent of your final pre-retirement salary as income in retirement. For example, if you were to retire tomorrow on a pre-retirement salary of $45,000, you’d need at least $27,000 to maintain your current standard of living.

The exact amount of money you’ll need, however, will depend on what you hope to achieve in retirement. If you’d like to venture overseas or buy a holiday house in the country, you’ll need to have the money put aside to fund these dreams.

The level of savings you’ll need for your retirement ‘nest-egg’ will also depend upon when you want to retire. The earlier you plan to retire, the longer you’ll spend outside of the workforce without your regular income. As a result, you’ll need to have more money put aside to support yourself throughout those additional years.

So how do you make sure you’ll have enough money to fund your well deserved retirement? Smart and timely planning!

A sound financial plan can be your first step to a secure financial future. Among other things, a plan details how much you should put aside now in order to achieve your desired lifestyle in retirement. Your finances are then structured so that this level of saving is achievable.

With a secure financial future, you’ll be able to have the kind of retirement lifestyle you’ve always wanted.

There are many issues you’ll need to consider when planning for your retirement. The earlier you start planning the better prepared you will be.