RETIREMENT LIVING YOUR WAY — Retiring in Uncertain Times

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The information in this update is of a general advice nature only and has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Because of that, you should, before acting on the advice, consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to those things. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance and should not be relied upon.

RETIREMENT LIVING YOUR WAY — “Retiring in Uncertain Times”

Hello and welcome to Retirement Living Your Way — the show where we talk about retirement in a way that’s practical, calm, and hopefully useful. I’m Troy Theobald from RFS Advice, and today we’re going to tackle a topic that’s sitting on the shoulders of a lot of Australians right now: what you should be doing when you’re retiring in uncertain times.

Before we dive in, a quick note: today’s discussion is general information only — it’s not personal financial advice. Everyone’s situation is different, and the right strategy depends on your goals, your cash flow, your assets, and your risk tolerance. So, use this as a guide, and if you need personal advice, speak with a licenced adviser who can look at your circumstances and provide you with tailored advice specifically for you and your needs.

The Truth About “Uncertain Times”

Let’s start here: uncertainty isn’t new.

Every generation retires through something — market volatility, inflation, interest rate cycles, global events, policy changes. What’s changed isn’t that uncertainty exists — it’s the volume of noise around it. We get headlines all day, opinions all day, and most of it is designed to grab attention, not help you make good decisions.

And when you’re nearing retirement, that noise can feel louder than ever, because it’s no longer theoretical. You’re thinking:

“If the market drops, does that mean I can’t retire?”
“What if inflation keeps biting?”
“What if I run out of money?”
“What if I retire and something goes wrong?”

So today I want to give you a simple framework that matches how we approach things at RFS Advice: keep it real, keep it achievable, and make decisions that help you live life without pressing pause.

Step One: Move From “Market Thinking” to “Lifestyle Thinking”

When people are retiring, they often focus on the wrong question.

They ask: “What’s happening in the markets?”

But the better question is: “What do I need my money to do for my life?”

At RFS Advice, we talk about building a plan that gives you:

Clear direction — knowing where you are, what you’re aiming for, and the steps to get there
Life without handbrakes — enjoying the present because you’ve taken care of the future.
Sleepeasy certainty — the confidence you’re making the best choices for yourself and your family.

That starts with lifestyle clarity. Here’s the exercise I want you to do if you’re nearing retirement:

The “Three Spending Buckets” exercise

Essential spending: the basics — housing costs, utilities, groceries, insurance, medical, transport.
Important spending: the things that give life comfort — eating out, hobbies, modest travel, helping family occasionally.
Optional spending: the luxuries — big travel, renovations, new cars, larger gifts.

Why does this matter?

Because in uncertain times, flexibility is power. When you know what’s essential versus optional, you’re not guessing. You’re not reacting. You’re in control.

And here’s a key point: when people don’t do this, they tend to overestimate what they need — and overestimating leads to unnecessary stress or delaying retirement longer than they need to.

Step Two: Prioritise Structure Over Prediction

Now let’s talk about the big trap: trying to predict what’s going to happen next.

I’ve said this many times — and it’s worth repeating: retirement shouldn’t be built on perfect timing. It should be built on a structure that works even when timing isn’t perfect.

At RFS Advice, we focus on building a robust financial foundation that can “weather any storm” because life doesn’t follow a perfect script — circumstances shift, markets change.

So, what does “structure” actually mean in retirement? It means your plan has layers, like a well-built home:

A stable base (money you’ll draw on soon)
A middle layer (income and stability)
A longer-term layer (growth to keep up with inflation and longevity)

If your retirement plan is one big pool of money with one big strategy and one big hope — then uncertainty will feel terrifying. But if your retirement plan is structured, uncertainty becomes manageable.

Step Three: Build a “Liquidity Buffer” (So You Don’t Sell at the Wrong Time)

This is one of the most practical actions you can take.

If you’re retiring — or about to retire — you want enough accessible funds so that if markets are down, you’re not forced to sell growth assets just to fund your lifestyle.

That accessible money might be:

Cash or a secure/conservative pool designed specifically for the next phase of spending

I’m not saying, “sit everything in cash.” I’m saying: have a clear liquidity plan.

Because here’s what typically goes wrong in uncertain times:

Markets drop → people panic → they sell → they lock in losses → they miss the recovery → retirement confidence gets damaged for years.

A liquidity buffer is the circuit breaker that stops that pattern.

Step Four: Understand the Real Retirement Risk — It’s Not Volatility Alone

In retirement, the risk isn’t just that markets move. Markets always move.

The bigger risk is something called sequencing risk — the order of returns when you start drawing down.

If you withdraw money during a downturn without a plan, your capital can shrink faster than you expect, and it becomes harder for your portfolio to recover.

So, in uncertain times, retirees should be doing two things:

Review their drawdown strategy (how income is generated, from what sources, and in what order).
Check sustainability (are you drawing too much too soon, or are you structured to draw from the right places?).

This is exactly why we focus on sensible diversification and building a plan you can actually follow — not something that looks good on paper but falls apart under pressure. You need to be able to separate income and growth.

Step Five: Set Your “Rules of Engagement” (So Headlines Don’t Run Your Life)

Here’s a simple set of rules I want you to adopt.

When a scary headline hits — and it will — don’t ask, “Should I do something?”

Ask these three questions instead:

The “3 Questions” filter:

Does this change my income needs?
Does this change my time horizon?
Does this change my plan — or just my emotions today?

If it’s only changing your emotions, that’s not a reason to restructure your life.

Now, I’m not dismissing emotions — they’re real. But retirement decisions made from fear rarely age well.

And one of the roles we play at RFS Advice is helping clients slow the moment down — to get perspective, to reduce the anxiety, and to make decisions that match the plan, not the headline.

Step Six: Re-check the Big Retirement Levers (The Ones That Actually Matter)

Let’s get practical. In uncertain times, the retirees who do best are usually the ones who focus on the levers they can control.

Here are the main ones:

A) Spending flexibility

We covered this — essential versus optional. This gives you breathing room.

B) The retirement date (and phased retirement)

Not everyone needs a hard stop. Sometimes working part-time for 6–18 months gives you:

extra cash flow
less pressure on investments
more confidence

C) The income mix

Retirement income often comes from a combination of:

superannuation pensions or account-based pensions
investment income
cash reserves
in some cases, part-time work
government benefits where eligible

The goal is not to “win” at investing. The goal is to build an income stream that supports your lifestyle with confidence.

D) Your portfolio “job description”

Every part of your portfolio should have a job:

stability
income
growth
protection
liquidity

If everything is doing the same job, you’ll feel uncertainty more.

Step Seven: Keep the Conversation Bigger Than Money

This might surprise you, but it’s one of the most important points.

Retirement isn’t just a financial event — it’s a life transition.

When uncertainty rises, people tend to narrow their world down to:

balances
returns
forecasts
fear

But the purpose of this — the whole reason you’ve worked and saved — is to fund a life with meaning.

So, I’ll ask you a question we often ask clients:

What are you retiring to?

What do your weeks look like?
Who do you spend time with?
What gives you purpose?
What are the experiences you don’t want to postpone?

At RFS Advice, we talk about helping people turn hard work into a future “without regrets — one where your money creates the memories and moments that matter most.”

That’s not fluff. That’s the core. Because if retirement becomes only about “not losing money,” people stop living.

Step Eight: A Realistic Example (Hypothetical) — “Keep It Real, Make It Achievable”

Let me give you a simple example — and to be clear, this is hypothetical, but it reflects the real patterns we see.

Imagine a couple, both 62, ready to retire. They’ve got super, some savings, and a home. They watch the news and think:

“Markets are volatile. Inflation is high. We should delay retirement until things settle.”

But when you look at the numbers properly, you realise:

Their essential spending is covered by a combination of stable income sources and a liquidity buffer.
Their discretionary spending can flex if needed.
Their portfolio is structured with multiple layers — not one big risk pool.

Suddenly “uncertain times” doesn’t mean “we can’t retire.” It means “we retire with a plan designed for uncertainty.”

That’s what I mean by straightforward advice — keep it real, make it achievable, and build something you can follow through with.

Step Nine: The RFS Advice Way: Clarity + Confidence + Ongoing Review

One thing I want to emphasise is that retirement planning isn’t “set and forget.”

At RFS Advice, we highlight that implementation and reviews are key to achieving good outcomes — because life changes, markets change, and legislation changes.

So, in uncertain times, here’s what your review should include:

Your Retirement CheckIn (quick version)

Are we clear on essential versus discretionary spending?
Do we have a liquidity plan for the next 12–24 months?
Are our income sources well understood and reliable?
Are we diversified properly — not just by asset, but by purpose?
Do we have a plan for healthcare costs and later-life needs?
Do we have the right insurances and estate documents in place?

When you do that, uncertainty doesn’t disappear — but it stops being the driver.

Step Ten: Where This Show Fits — “Retirement Living Your Way”

Part of the reason we created Retirement Living Your Way is because retirement isn’t one topic. It’s a series of decisions — super, investments, lifestyle planning, healthcare, aged care, family conversations — all of it.

And importantly, this show is recorded in the studios of the community radio station 4CRB on the Gold Coast, which is why we keep it down-to-earth and practical.

So, if you’ve listened before, you’ll know the pattern:

We simplify the complex
We talk in plain language
We focus on what you can control
And we keep bringing it back to living well — not just “investing well”

Step Eleven: Practical Actions You Can Take This Week

Let’s finish with a short, actionable list — because uncertainty feels smaller when you take steps.

Do these five things in the next seven days:

Write your essential monthly spending number.
List your income sources (what they are, when they start, are they reliable).
Confirm your liquidity buffer (what you’d use if markets fell).
Reduce one financial stress point (tidy a debt, consolidate accounts, automate a bill, simplify a holding).
Talk to a professional if you haven’t had a proper retirement strategy review recently.

And if you want a resource to help organise your thinking, RFS Advice provides retirement resources, including a downloadable Retirement Toolkit eBook on the RFS Advice website.