Retirement planning

This one is not written up yet

The definition above is the short version. A full explanation — how it works, a worked example and the exam traps — is still being written. In the meantime the chapter below covers it in context.

Written up from the same chapter

• Accumulation stageThe working years, in which saving and investment build the retirement corpus — the stage where the ability to take risk is highest and where time, not contribution size, does most of the work.
• Asset allocationThe decision on how to distribute a client's wealth across asset classes — the first decision in building a portfolio, and the one that explains most of what the portfolio then does.
• Capital appreciationThe gain made when the market value of an investment rises above what you paid for it — as distinct from income, which is the interest or dividend the investment pays you along the way.
• Debt to income ratioMonthly debt servicing commitment divided by monthly income — the ratio that says whether a household's income can carry the loans it already has, let alone another one.
• Distribution stageThe retired years, in which the corpus built during working life is converted into periodic income — the stage where protecting capital matters more than growing it, because it can no longer be topped up.
• DiversificationSpreading an exposure across holdings that do not move together, so that total risk falls by more than total return does — minimising risk per unit of return.