Super & Retirement

Rise of super funds will shape Australia’s financial sector

By Kevin Davis, Australian Centre for Financial Studies How will the shape of Australia’s financial sector evolve over the coming decades? How will the demand for finance change? Where will the supply of funds come from? Can we be confident that available funds will be allocated to their best uses to promote economic growth and…

Retirement planning: more than a financial exercise

By Wealth Foundations The non-financial aspects of retirement planning may be critical In our work with clients, our primary focus is the effective accumulation of wealth over the period to a nominated retirement date (or desired date for financial independence) and then the drawdown of that wealth to meet a desired retirement lifestyle. It is…

Borrowing to buy property within Super: Buyer Beware!

By Wealth Foundations Just because you can doesn’t mean your should Borrowing to buy property within a Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) has been promoted by many within the advice industry as an exclusive opportunity you should seriously consider. And, while there can be occasions where this strategy makes sense, as a general rule the…

Should I borrow to invest or dump money into super?

By Wealth Foundations I don’t want to lock my money into super Two alternative strategies that many investors consider are: • borrowing to invest (i.e. entering into a gearing strategy), outside super; and • increasing pre-tax contributions to super and investing in the superannuation environment. Which is best? The comparison is not straightforward, but is…

The cracks in Australia’s superannuation nest egg

By Michael Rafferty, University of Sydney Think the share market volatility doesn’t affect you? Guess again. With almost 60% of Australian superannuation funds invested in shares, anyone paying compulsory super contributions has something to lose from the current ructions. University of Sydney superannuation expert Mike Rafferty explains why all of us, young and old, should…

What will you spend in retirement?

By Wealth Foundations It is often said that 25 times your desired retirement spending is a good rough guide to how much investment wealth you need to accumulate to be able to support your desired retirement lifestyle indefinitely or for financial independence. Of course, the usefulness of this proposition depends on having some idea of…

You may be quietly lining up to lose on your superannuation

By Mark McGovern, Queensland University of Technology Silence surrounds significant changes to your superannuation. While the changes affect many, experienced staff in universities and similar institutions are particularly vulnerable. The halving of the contribution cap for those over 50 to $25,000 and the relatively more significant role of superannuation arrangements in university remunerations mean that…

The Retirement Timing Fallacy

Wealth Foundations There have been numerous studies done over recent times about the cost of retiring at the wrong time. As investors, we need to manage the balancing act of taking on enough risk to maintain our purchasing power, but not too much that it jeopardises our affairs. Over the long term, we expect to…

Global economic shakeout: the cracks in Australia’s superannuation nest egg

By Michael Rafferty, University of Sydney Think the share market volatility doesn’t affect you? Guess again. With almost 60% of Australian superannuation funds invested in shares, anyone paying compulsory super contributions has something to lose from the current ructions. University of Sydney superannuation expert Mike Rafferty explains why all of us, young and old, should…

DIY Super: Gain From Sharemarket Losses

Losing money on shares doesn’t have to be the end of the world – in fact, there are times when capital losses are actually more lucrative than capital gains. How is that? Take the instance of an in-specie transfer of shares into a super fund. This occurs when a person transfers their shares from their…