By Robin Bowerman Smart Investing Principal & Head of Retail, Vanguard Investments Australia 19th July 2011
(The financial tools on this website can help you gain the control talked about in this article. To access this resource just click on the Financial Tools or Calculator button and go from there. Information you add is stored and can be accessed 24/7. These Tools can also be used by other members of your family and friends to help them gain a better understanding of their financial position and as well).
There are plenty of frustrating aspects about investing and saving for retirement.
Understandably, many investors may feel frustrated by a feeling they can do little to cushion their portfolios from the fallout from, say, Europe's sovereign debt problems and the political debate over the ceiling on US debt.
And many individuals on the eve of retirement would feel frustrated that it may seem too late to save more to improve their standard of living in retirement.
An article in the US SmartMoney magazine this month highlights simple steps that retirees can take to potentially improve their financial positions.
Journalist Glenn Ruffenach begins his article with a rhetorical question: "Want to hear some good news about retirement?"
The good news is straightforward: "You have more control over your future than you think," he writes.
Ruffenach quotes a financial planner, Clark Randall, as saying: "It's easy [for investors] to focus on the threats they can't control."
The article then points out things that investors, including retirees, can control including careful budgeting, debt reduction and efficient management of taxation.
Informed investors would add such things to this list as ensuring an investment portfolio is adequately diversified, gaining quality financial planning advice when required, and keeping investment costs to a minimum.
Another factor clearly under an investor's control is a decision to take a disciplined approach to the regular rebalancing of a portfolio back to its appropriate long-term, target asset allocation.
