For most people low interest rates are a God-send that frees up cash, allows them to reduce the capital of their debts and buy those things they previously could not afford when interest rates were higher.
For those who depend on their retirement income on the other hand, low interest rates can have a dramatic impact on their lifestyle, their interest income having been dramatically reduced.
There are also those who are nearing retirement who may have started investing when interest rates were much higher and have not assessed their portfolios in the past few years to determine whether or not their retirement plan is on track to provide the necessary income to support their desired lifestyle.
What can be done to shore up your retirement savings? See also how to reduce your insurance costs
Firstly, if you are like many who took your money out of stocks in favour of cash fearing a stock market crash or serious correction, your cash generating a very small amount of interest and you may be experiencing negative growth with inflation at it’s current levels. It is important to re-evaluate your portfolio and perhaps allocate some of your cash into unit trusts or other market related investments which in some cases are returning well above inflation.
It is important to remember that your retirement investments are long term investments that portfolio managers monitor and adjust according to complex algorithms and market intelligence to give the best possible returns over the longer term. ie 5 years +
Consult your financial planner, evaluate your portfolio and discuss the options available to you that will help you meet your retirement goals. Whatever you do, do not risk your hard earned cash on a hunch or barstool advice, retirement planning is an art that professional fund management teams study and evaluate on a constant basis to offer their customers a retirement product that attracts new customers by showing higher returns than the other retirement products.
Talk to a financial adviser and get your retirement investments working for you.
