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How to resolve AdBlock issue? Boomers deliberate over their (total) $4 trillion legacies
By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>
OVER the next 20 years, $4 trillion will be transferred from baby boomers to their children and grandchildren as inheritance.
And Australians reliant on their compulsory super savings now need to ensure they can extend their savings for the duration of their retirement.
It’s a complex issue and Nexia’s head of financial planning, Craig Wilford says it will depend on a whole lot of unknown variables – such as lifestyle choices, and the preparedness of boomers to do estate planning in their wills.
The question of how much super boomers need to retire comfortably “depends on the person and their aspirations of what they’re looking to achieve in retirement,” Mr Wilford told Talking Business. 
“Fundamentally that issue of not just what sort of lifestyle they want to live at different stages of their retirement, but also how long they want that capital to last for and the sort of legacy and estate planning position they would like to leave for family or loved ones,” he said.
“And of course, along the way the level of comfort they’ve got with different risk profiles or investment strategies in order to achieve those outcomes is also another variable.”
Legacy decision are hard for Boomers
Mr Wilford said the issue for Boomers in sorting out the tax issues, their investment strategies and the legacy they want to leave in their wills is complex.
Since the early 90s, he said, Boomers have now become the primary arbiters “of whether our retirement is a good one or not”.
“With that complexity, there hasn’t been a real solution to those key issues of allowing each person to make an informed decision about what are my options for making the capital last as long as possible for the amount of income that I want,” Mr Wilford said.
“(Something) that’s tax-efficient, that’s CentreLink efficient, that’s flexible, that allows me capital access within my risk profile and leaves an estate,” he said.
Mr Wilford said many Boomers have not looked at these issues in their wills, especially with $4 trillion (in total) to go to their children and grandchildren.
“You’d be surprised with the number of people that aren’t prepared to broach the issue of having their estate planning instructions in place is still. Surprisingly low,” he said.
“That sigma that goes along with anything to do with mortality unfortunately still seems to be a stumbling block.”
Take all variables into account
Mr Wilford said Boomers needing to extend their retirement savings need to look at a range of variables. 
“Firstly, it’s to look at the lifestyle itself,” he said.
“First, you’ve got the base, the staples that you can’t do without – your groceries, your utilities, your cost of shelter insurances, etcetera.
“At the other end, there are the full discretionary expenditures such as travel and how often and what sort of level of comfort one is enjoying in travel and recreation, and going out and enjoying restaurants theatre etcetera.
“And in the middle, there are the partial discretionary items. And that’s a variable in itself,” Mr Wilford said.
“That issue is how much we’re prepared to adjust up and down those discretionary expenditures in order to help the sustainability of a given income stream for as long as possible.”
Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness
https://shows.acast.com/talkingbusiness/episodes/talking-business-16-interview-with-craig-wilford-from-nexia
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