leading up to retirement and beyond

No two work days are the same for the owner of a small business – and definitely not for Judith, who is the owner of three! 

On any given day, busy business owner and HESTA member Judith might be undertaking a training session with community groups, seeing clients in her Bowen Therapy practice or teaching new parents and their baby the joys of infant massage.

In the lead up to her retirement, Judith is starting to reduce her work days to four per week. “Retirement will be a gradual process,” says Judith. “I am not sure if that process will be complete when I reach 67. I know I will want to use and share my wisdom and skills but how that will look in, say, ten years is unclear at present.”

Taking control

As a small business owner, Judith has managed her super contributions herself. “Part of my internal conversation was, ‘What do you want to achieve over the next 15 years and how will you ensure that your future is secure?’ Part of the answer to that question was continuing to contribute to my super, which is something many small business owners fail to do.”

Judith has been a HESTA member for 18 years and in that time, has seen her super grow through effective investments. “This has meant my super pool has grown well over the past 18 years,” says Judith. “I particularly valued the decision HESTA made to divest from tobacco companies. I have always found HESTA to be responsive on issues like these.”

No compromises

For many of us, retirement means living life on our terms. This is also true for Judith, “to me, retirement means permission to pursue my interests and passions without that little voice in my head saying, ‘You should be working’. When you work for yourself that little voice can be quite loud at times and you need to be mindful of ensuring you have an effective work/life balance regime in place.”

Planning ahead means Judith has more options in retirement. “Because I’ve been actively contributing to my super, I don’t need to think ‘can I do that?’ once I retire. I’ll still need to be careful but I won’t have to compromise.”