Retire Aware

20/10/2026

Here's a random question for you...

If your 80-year-old self could write you a note today, what do you reckon it would say?

I suspect mine would have a few things to say about how much I try to squeeze into every week! 😂

But seriously, it's a question I ask myself quite often when making decisions. Will 80-year-old me be happy I made this choice? Or wish I'd done something differently?

It's actually a pretty useful way to think about life, money and retirement.

So, what do you think your 80-year-old self would tell you?

10/10/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲, 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲?

Perhaps you're ready for something different, but making a change involves more than deciding what you'd like to do. There's what matters most to you, the options available, your financial circumstances, and the trade-offs you're willing to make.

That's where 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 comes in.

Join Joti Prasad, Coach and Founder of Kynara Collective, and Kylie Springall, Financial Adviser and Founder of Retire Aware, for an interactive workshop that brings together personal clarity and financial understanding.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆?

✅ A clearer understanding of what matters most to you and what you'd like your future to look like.

✅ Greater awareness of the options available to you and the barriers that may be holding you back.

✅ An understanding of the financial implications and trade-offs involved in making changes, including what you might need to give up and what you want to protect.

✅ Practical next steps and the financial questions to explore before making important decisions.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Life Clarity + Financial Confidence = Choice

📅 Wednesday 28 October 2026
🕠 5:30pm – 8:30pm
📍 Castlereagh Boutique Hotel, Sydney C*D
🎟️ Tickets: $199 per person

Find out more and book your place:
https://events.humanitix.com/the-freedom-equation

10/10/2026

𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁?

There's a lot more to retirement planning than simply building up your super.

When can you afford to retire? How much income will you need? How will you manage your investments, tax and the Age Pension? And what do you actually want your retirement to look like?

There's plenty to think about, and it's not always easy to know whether you've covered everything.

That's why I created the 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲.

It's a simple way to take stock of where you're at, what you've already considered, and where you might need to do a little more planning.

You'll receive a personalised report highlighting areas of your retirement planning that may need more attention.

How retirement-ready are you?

Complete the free questionnaire here:
https://retireaware.com.au/questionnaire/

18/09/2026

Life changes.

You get married. You separate. Your family grows. Relationships change.

But there’s one thing that’s very easy to forget along the way... the beneficiary nomination on your super fund.

It’s worth checking that your nomination still reflects who you actually want your super benefits to go to if something happens to you.

And don’t assume that nominating someone once means it’s sorted forever. Depending on the type of nomination you’ve made, it may expire or need to be updated.

This is just one of the topics we cover in our new Spring Newsletter, which has just been released.

We’ve included a collection of practical articles and updates to help you stay on top of your retirement and finances.

Click this link to read the Spring newsletter.
https://retireaware.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/MyFocus-Spring-2026.pdf

12/09/2026

Friday lunch, hanging out with the crew at Bx Cronulla, at Club Cronulla.

We had a few new faces, some local regulars, plus the keen beans from other Bx groups.

The lovely Joti gave a presentation on “Why Capable People Get Stuck” – talking through why capable, high-performing people freeze on the decisions that matter most; what's really going on beneath the pressure, and what it takes to get unstuck and choose with confidence.

The presentation gave a bit of a prelude to a workshop Joti and I will be doing in the city next month, helping women who know they want something to change, but aren’t quite sure what that change looks like, or whether they can actually afford to make it.

We’ll be bringing together the two sides of that decision: getting clear on what you want from the next stage of life, and then understanding the financial choices, trade-offs and possibilities that can help make it happen.

Watch this space! 😊

Kynara Collective Dr Amy Norman - Chiropractor at Dynamic Chiropractic Saints Electrical Seeds of Wonder Phoenix Law Paul Woodward Financial Services Kylie Springall

09/09/2026

WEALTH & WELLNESS WEDNESDAY

Over the past month, I’ve been sharing a short series called "The Life You Want. The Confidence to Choose It".

It’s been about that point in life where, from the outside, things may look perfectly fine… but internally, something no longer feels quite right.

Maybe your priorities have changed. Maybe the work you once enjoyed no longer fits. Maybe you’re craving more time, meaning, flexibility or a different way of living.

And often, the biggest barriers to change are not just practical. They’re emotional and financial too.

Across the series, I’ve written about values, courage, the questions I ask “80-year-old me”, and the financial fears that can make change feel impossible before we’ve really explored what’s possible.

I’ve now pulled it all together into one article on my website for anyone who would like to read the full piece.

The Life You Want. The Confidence to Choose It.

When the life you built no longer feels right, clarity matters. Explore how values, courage and financial confidence can help you choose what comes next.

08/09/2026

I’m very excited to share the new home of our business networking group…
.. the POINT, at Taren Point Bowling Club 🎉

We’re so grateful to the team at Taren Point for being so accommodating. The breakfast 🍳 and coffees ☕️ were superb this morning, and the space is perfect for us 😍.

For any local business owners interested in growing their business, I’d love to shout you breakfast and have you join us one Tuesday morning at 6.45am.

Please get in touch if you’re interested.

And a huge thanks to all our Shire Success team members for truly being a top bunch. I seriously look forward to our catch-ups each week. 😊

Taren Point Bowling Club Blue Rose Financial Molloy Brokers Retire Aware URBAN CAM Peak Plumbing Services Pty Ltd OptiGlow Cleaning Hale+Co Interiors Century 21 Sutherland Shire

02/09/2026

WEALTH & WELLNESS WEDNESDAY

THE LIFE YOU WANT.
THE CONFIDENCE TO CHOOSE IT.

Part 4 of 4: When fear no longer gets the final vote

Major life changes deserve careful thought.

It matters that we understand our values, motivations and emotional blockers.

It matters that we consider our responsibilities and the effect of a decision on the people we love.

And it matters that we explore the financial reality properly rather than moving forward on hope alone.

But even after we have done all of that, complete certainty may not arrive.

No financial plan can promise that every part of a new life will unfold exactly as expected. No amount of reflection can remove every doubt. And no spreadsheet can supply the courage to make the final choice.

At some point, we may need to decide whether the fear of getting it wrong will continue to choose our life for us.

The aim is not to become fearless, but to understand the fear, prepare intelligently, create the right support and become confident enough to choose a life that is more closely aligned with who we are and what matters most to us.

That is the area I am increasingly interested in exploring with my clients: where personal values, emotional courage and financial confidence come together.

A question for you:
What might you choose if fear no longer had the final vote?

26/08/2026

WEALTH & WELLNESS WEDNESDAY
THE LIFE YOU WANT.

THE CONFIDENCE TO CHOOSE IT.

Part 3 of 4: Is it unaffordable? Or does it simply feel unsafe??

Often, one of the most powerful sentences standing between someone and a major life change is:
“I can’t afford it.”

Sometimes that conclusion is accurate. Financial responsibilities are real, and a decision involving work, income or lifestyle should not be made without understanding the consequences.

But sometimes “I can’t afford it” really means:

♦️ I don’t know how much income I would need.

♦️ I don’t know what I would have to change.

♦️ I don’t know whether my family would still be secure.

♦️ I don’t know what it would mean for my retirement.

♦️ I don’t know whether I could recover financially if it did not work.

And because those questions feel frightening, uncertainty becomes a firm “no” before the possibilities have ever been properly examined.

This is where financial clarity can be incredibly valuable.
It may reveal that a particular change is not currently workable.

It may show that preparation is required first.

Or it may uncover options, trade-offs and pathways that were difficult to see while the fear remained broad and undefined.

Financial advice cannot tell someone what life they should choose.

But it can help replace imagined catastrophe with a clearer understanding of what is possible, what it would require and what the real risks may be.

A question for you:
Do you know that the change you want is financially impossible? Or have you been too frightened to explore what it might take?

20/08/2026

There’s been plenty of discussion recently about first-home buyers with 5% deposits potentially finding themselves in a negative equity position.

This latest research caught my attention.

Since the expanded 5% Deposit Scheme commenced last October, around 48,000 first-home buyers have used it to purchase a property.

New analysis from REA Group, using PropTrack data, estimates that just 87 of the roughly 48,000 first-home buyers who used the 5% Deposit Scheme are currently in negative equity.

That’s fewer than 0.2%.

Given recent falls in parts of the property market, that’s a reassuring result, particularly after concerns that buyers entering with only a small amount of equity could be especially vulnerable if prices declined.

Of course, it doesn’t settle the broader housing debate.

The recently legislated changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax are intended to reduce investor competition for established properties and encourage investment in new housing.

Treasury expects this to help more people into home ownership over time.

On the other side of the equation, there are legitimate questions about what reduced investor demand may mean for rental supply and rents, particularly for people who are still trying to save their first deposit.

And we don’t know where property prices go from here.

But amid a lot of fairly heated commentary about housing policy, this particular piece of data is worth noting:
So far, the overwhelming majority of first-home buyers who entered through the 5% Deposit Scheme remain on the right side of the equity equation.

That’s good news, even if the bigger housing picture remains much more complicated.