Retirement: Don’t panic and do not postpone

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Cape Town - Louw Venter, a Cape Town-based financial adviser, gives his top tips for successful retirement investing.

What are some of the key factors that can negatively affect someone’s retirement strategy?

One of the biggest stumbling blocks is not having a retirement savings strategy at all. People postpone thinking about the issue, hoping that life will deal them a lucky card. However, that is unfortunately not enough. Successful retirement planning needs a well thought out strategy.

But another major factor that can negatively affect your retirement strategy is not having a budget, or not sticking to a budget. You may have a financial strategy, but it needs to be funded by cash flow, which is why you need a workable, realistic budget you can stick to.

You may have the best retirement strategy in the world, but without making the money available, it means nothing.

Another key issue is a lack of focus on long-term saving. Most people barely make it every month, and don’t have any surplus for saving. But part of the issue is that people think short-term rather than long-term, and prioritise spending on things that are maybe not vital instead of putting it towards retirement. Money is found for superficial items, while long-term saving is postponed.