How scary was it when you first got married? That is, assuming you chose to take that turn and follow the unmarked path.

You knew your life would never be the same again, but the prospect of being with the one you love, forever, was irresistible. You had more advice than you had time to digest, so you followed your heart. How it worked out has little to do with any of the advice offered, it all came down to how you chose to follow your dreams and adapt to all the challenges that leapt out along the journey.

Forward a few decades and here you are contemplating your next leap of faith - retirement.

Another massive transition, but you got this far on your wits, skills and attitude so, you should be right. Unlike marital spontaneity you’ve had your whole working life to think about this. Income, investments, and superannuation have been front of mind as you do your best to create a safe and secure environment to wind down and enjoy your golden years.

This is where it gets technical. Let’s keep it simple – just 3 key questions:

·       How much money, investments, super do you need if you stop working?

·       How long are you going to kick on for?

·       What sort of bucket list have you dreamt up?

There are 3 ways this can go from here.

1.      You believe you have enough assets and you’re bucket list is manageable, in which case you confidently retire.

2.      You’re not sure if you have planned sufficiently, but you really want to retire so you go ahead with trepidation.

3.      You can’t imagine yourself not working, so you keep on going.

There is no wrong decision when it comes to retirement. Your reasoning is sound no matter what you choose to do. You can’t know exactly when your funds or time will run out before you cross off at least the biggies on your list.

In retirement, active income is partially replaced with passive income from savings, super and investments. Health is on a downward trajectory that inevitably steepens as we age and time disappears at a linear rate.

A comfortable retirement is determined by how we prioritise allocation of our 3 assets - time, money and health. Some areas of our life can speed up while others naturally slow down. It’s up to us to decide the tempo and maintain a beat that feels rhythmical and powerful enough to sustain us right to the final call.