Health is wealth: financial planning for physical health in retirement

You likely have a number of tangible goals for your retirement – such as travel, spending quality time with your grandchildren, or moving to a beautiful property on the beach!

Financial planning is essential to achieve these goals, but your future physical health also plays a huge role, as it influences:

• The extent to which you enjoy and embrace your retirement lifestyle, and
• Your ability to afford lifestyle costs alongside potential healthcare expenses
  
  

As you start to plan for your retirement, it’s vital to consider your health as you are today. Then, with the guidance of your financial planner, you can start forming a financial plan through the lens of your future physical health.

To get started, consider these 3 questions:

1. Are you attending regular health checks with your doctor?

All too often, people neglect their health throughout their career. Once they retire, they find they’re not prepared for the financial implications of potential health problems.

Attending regular health checks with your doctor, and then discussing your future health with your financial planner, can ensure you are prepared for any potential problems - such as:

• Surgeries:
  An active working life (and pursuing contact sports such as rugby!) can leave you with joint problems that are bound to affect you during your retirement.
  
  Ask your doctor about your joints, and whether you may need to have surgery - such as a knee or hip replacement. If you get a headstart, and know what factors improve joint mobility, you can also enhance your quality of life for longer.
  
  This will help prevent any unpleasant surprises and stresses during retirement, especially with long waiting lists for funded surgeries!
  
  

• Family history:
  Discussing your family history with your doctor is important when planning for a healthy retirement. Future health problems may require you to make changes to your lifestyle, either to maintain your physical health or prevent injuries.
  
  By having conversations with your doctor about your family history, you may find you are at risk of developing certain illnesses or conditions that require a lot of health care and treatments. You may also learn about some preventative steps you can take now.
  
  These conversations may be awkward at first, but the peace of mind gained is invaluable! Your financial planner can then help you prepare for any potential future changes to your physical health when developing your retirement plan.
  
  

2. Do you wish to travel or pursue certain activities during retirement?

A popular retirement goal is to travel the world, play a sport, or start a new hobby! But many people don’t realise until they are retired that these round-the-world holidays and activities do require considerable physical fitness and good health.

When discussing your retirement preparations with your financial planner, we’ll help you factor in the holistic elements that are involved in ensuring you enjoy the next chapter of your life.

This could mean:

• Planning your future holidays:
  
  Maybe you’ll have a much more active holiday earlier in retirement, but opt for a relaxed luxury cruise as you get older!

• Setting financial expectations around your fitness:
  
  How much does a quality road bike cost? Or a membership at your gym?
  
  
  

3. Have you considered how long your retirement will be?

With advances in modern medicine and higher standards of living, people are living much longer than ever before. We want to help you plan effectively with this in mind - because you don’t want to run out of money when you’re 90, but still feel fit and healthy to get more out of life!

It might be a hard conversation to have at first, but taking the time to consider how long your retirement will last is vital to ensure you’re content and financially secure for the rest of your life!

“We help our clients plan for their physical health in retirement so they can maximise their independence, travel opportunities, and overall longevity.”

– Callum Forbes

Financial Planner, NZFP

With physical health in mind, we’ll help you paint a picture of the life you want to enjoy and sustain throughout your retirement - and make the financial preparations you need to ensure you enjoy the next chapter!

Looking after your physical health is crucial to achieve your lifestyle goals in retirement. Start attending those regular check-ups with your doctor to gain more insight into your future physical health. 

At NZFP, we’re used to guiding people through these difficult yet important aspects of retirement planning. We consider the bigger picture beyond your finances, such as your potential longevity and the sort of lifestyle you wish to maintain as you get older.