What is it? In September 2019, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced a long-awaited independent review of Australia’s retirement income system. The review, recommended by the Productivity Commission, will examine the retirement income system’s ‘three pillars’ – the age pension, superannuation, and voluntary savings, including home ownership. The Commission urged the government to carry out the review […]
Many behavioural studies have shown there are several traits and biases that can impede us from making reasonable decisions about everything from what to eat to how to invest. Understanding these biases and considering whether they may be negatively impacting decisions can be beneficial when implementing long-term investment plans. These studies show, in general, people have asymmetric […]
“How much can I spend?” This question lies at the heart of so many conversations between a retiree and their adviser. Although not explicitly stated, this simple question ties in to so many other related concerns – Can I spend enough to be comfortable? Will I run out of money? What are my options if […]
When accumulating savings for retirement, the investment objective is clear – to grow and maximise savings.
After almost 30 years since the introduction of compulsory superannuation in Australia, many practitioners have called for a review of the superannuation guarantee (SG) system before the legislated increase in employers’ compulsory contributions from 9.5% to 12% by 2025. These increases are: Period Super Guarantee (%) 1 July 2002 – 30 June 2013 9.00 1 July […]
With the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cutting the official cash rate to just 1.00% on 2 July, retirees and investors face increased challenges in deriving enough income from their investments to meet their needs. This is an ongoing issue with more interest rate cuts forecast by financial markets. The following chart puts this challenge […]
For many, approaching retirement is often characterised by heightened emotion and anxiety associated with competing life goals and financial objectives. Each of these will typically have different time horizons and be prioritised in different ways. Most retirement portfolio construction approaches rely solely on risk profiling as the primary mechanism to determine the ‘optimal’ retirement portfolio. […]
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