Getting Ready to Retire
A calm, plain-English picture of how retirement money works — and the right questions to bring to the people paid to answer them.
Included in Morning Post membership — $79 a year · Cancel anytime
The hardest flip in retirement isn’t budgeting — it’s the permission to spend after a lifetime of saving. This class builds a calm, one-page picture of what life costs and where the income comes from, explains how the pieces fit together, and hands you the right questions for the people whose job it is to answer them.
It’s for anyone who’s ever done retirement maths on the ceiling at 3am.
The eight lessons
1The Permission to SpendThe strange guilt of the first withdrawal — and the twin risks nobody names.2Know Your Number: What Life Actually CostsOne month of honesty, sorted into fixed and flexible — less scary written down than imagined.3Your Income Streams, MappedPension, super, savings, maybe some work — your income as a braid, drawn on one page.4How the Pension and Super Fit TogetherThe two systems, described plainly — and the free official calculators that do the sums.5Cutting Costs Without Cutting LifeThe loyalty tax, the unclaimed seniors discounts, the subscription audit — cut the invisible, keep the joy.6Working a Little, If You Want ToWhat a day or two of work gives beyond money — and where to check how it sits with the pension.7Guarding Against the Big RisksMore retirement money is lost to cons and pressure than to groceries — the “never decide today” rule.8Your Money AfternoonOne afternoon a year, tea in hand, that replaces the 3am worry — and who to call when a real decision looms.One page of homework per lesson: the twin risks named, the spending map, the income map, the calculator visit, the leak hunt, the work dial, the guard page — and the once-a-year Money Afternoon ritual with its questions-to-ask page. Print it, fill it in pencil, keep it with your important papers.
How to get it
Morning Post membership
This class and the other 17 — plus both Morning Post workbooks, all four mysteries, and everything we build next. Covers your household.
Become a member — $79 a yearNo password — we email you a link · Any phone, tablet or computer · Cancel anytime
Pairs well with Superannuation in Plain English and Downsizing, Done Right.
Questions worth asking
Is this a budgeting class?
No belt-tightening drills — it builds a calm one-page picture of your money, then a yearly ritual that keeps it true.
Will it tell me what to do with my super?
No — it explains how the system works and gives you the questions to ask. Choices belong with you, the free Financial Information Service, or a licensed adviser.
Do I have to share my finances?
With nobody. You write your own numbers on your own page at home; the class never sees them.
Morning Post Classes — general education, never personal financial advice. Rules and rates change: check your own situation with Services Australia, the free Financial Information Service, or a licensed adviser. Narration and illustrations are AI-assisted under human editorial review — editorial policy.