The government is talking about proposals that could increase the retirement age from 67 to as high as 70. Even though the change from 65 to 67 under the previous Labor government won't take effect until 2023, bumping it up more is projected to be necessary to meet budgets.
Soon enough it may be another half decade in total before you can enjoy retirement. How will that affect your savings, superannuation and investing? If you have a physically demanding job, it will be harder to continue. Even before then your company may want to make room for younger workers, so job security may suffer.
People have to take control of their financial future – the earlier the better! Now more than ever your investments will be important and getting those extra few percentage points of return here and there may make a great difference.
Highly speculative stocks with great volatility aren't what you can build a strong foundation of wealth on. One year's gains could be easily taken away and each year brings you closer to your retirement.
What companies will probably be around in another 10 years or so with decent growth prospects? What brand names are strong enough to attract customers? What do most people want or need? These kinds of questions will help guide your stock picking.
In the meantime, here are some stocks that could help you along the way.
Jobs listed on SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK), the leading employment placement website, will be in demand and will have older job hunters in the future it seems.
Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) is holding its position as the top holiday and travel bookings company and it is expanding into the much larger US market for more growth.
Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC), a private hospital operator, is a good defensive stock to help keep portfolio income steady.
Also having some earnings coming from the superannuation and retirement planning industry would be advantageous. Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF) offers annuities and other wealth management products. In addition it is expanding into superannuation and self-managed super fund related business.
Foolish takeaway
I can't say what stocks will be good 20 or 30 years from now. There will be adjustments along the way. You want to give yourself the best chances for success. If you are already in or nearing your 50s, you definitely don't want to be experimenting with your retirement nest egg.
