Early in your working life, retirement is probably the last thing on your mind. Even as your career progresses, you've probably thought more about how to spend your leisure time than planning how you'll finance your leisure activities. You may be approaching retirement age now, and could possibly be thinking that it is too late to start saving.

Fortunately, it is never too late, though the earlier you start planning, the better the outcome will be. No matter at what age you start thinking about your retirement, a clear plan will help you achieve your goals.

A good starting point would be to add to your super by making extra contributions to your super account, over and above the contributions made by your employer. Making additional contributions to your super can potentially make a significant difference to the amount you have when you retire.

Your retirement planning should include more than just the current value of your super fund. Consider the value of your other assets, like your home, share portfolio and other investments. It is worth investigating whether you it would be worth transferring their value (for example, by selling them) into your super fund as after-tax personal contributions.

Another key element of retirement planning is to reduce your debt, including mortgages, personal loans and credit cards.

Deciding how much extra you can contribute to your super is not that hard! Consider what your monthly income is, including wages or salary and pensions. Check this against your monthly expenditure, including food, petrol, and bill payments. Any money left over is your disposable income. Find ways to reduce your spending, and increase your savings. Even an additional contribution of just $20 a week can make a substantial difference in the long term.

A vital element of retirement planning involves choosing how to use your superannuation savings when you retire. If you have retired, or are preparing to retire in the near future, GESB offers a range of retirement options to suit your personal needs and financial goals.

The Commonwealth Government is rewarding eligible people who make after-tax personal contributions to their super by matching all or part of their contributions. GESB can help you take advantage of the Commonwealth Government's Super Co-contribution.

There are also tax benefits for those who choose to make contributions to their spouse's super fund. Find out whether you and your spouse are eligible for the spouse contribution tax offset.

To find out how you can plan better for your retirement, attend one of GESB's free retirement planning seminars.