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Monday, 2 August 2021
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The Government has taken the next step towards encouraging retirees to live off their capital, and from 1 July 2022 will require super funds - even SMSFs - to address retirement income and protect longevity risk.
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Superannuation funds need to establish a framework that offers retirees a retirement income solution that lasts a lifetime. It will challenge trustees to find a way to engage that their members understand and trust.
Dividend payments from listed companies, depended on by many in retirement, have lagged the rebound in share prices over the past year. Better times are ahead but sources of dividends will differ from previous years.
Small cap investors face less mature companies with zero profit that need significant capital for growth. Without years of financial data to rely on, investors must employ creative ways to value companies.
All eyes are on Japan and the opportunity to win for competing athletes. After disappointing investors for many years, Japan is also in focus for its value, diversification and the safe haven status of its currency.
The collapse of Virgin Australia not only hit shareholders, but their bond investors received between 9 and 13 cents in the $1. A widely-diversified portfolio can tolerate losses better than a concentrated one.
The traditional 60/40 portfolio might deliver only 1.5% above inflation in future without diversification benefits. Knowing an asset’s attributes rather than arbitrary definitions is better for investors.
Retirees want better returns but they have limited appetite to dial up their risk exposure in order to achieve it. Financial advice and protection strategies in portfolios can enhance investment outcomes.
A feature of life expectancy is that over half the people of a certain age will live longer than their life expectancy. Retirees using these estimates may run out of money, but there are benefits of pooling.
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Welcome to Firstlinks Edition 418 with weekend update 6
Do you realise that 'retirement income' includes withdrawing your capital from your non-super assets? Does that sound like income? How about some extension relief on your non-arm's length arrangement. Why did superannuation become so mired in confusing definitions such as NALI, ECPI, LISTO, NCC and the awful CIPRs?Read More.
Pre-retirees should ‘trial run’ their retirements. All those things you want to do - play golf, time with the family, a hobby, write a book - might not be so appealing in reality, but you might discover other benefits.
Retirees require a reliable income stream to replace the wages they received when they were working and should focus on the dollar income generated over time rather than the headline yield percentage.
From promoting women to boost culture to taking opportunities as they arise, Lucy Turnbull AO says markets should not drive decision-making and leaders must live and breathe the company's mission and values.
Markets always deliver delusions and manias, but there's something unique now. Investors do not speak a common language at a time when there's more money for speculative ideas than ever. Check the water.
The article by former leading super consultant, Don Ezra, on how he calculated how much to spend in his own retirement has been viewed over 12,000 times. We reproduce selected comments by readers on their own journey.
Super tax concessions will be worth more than the cost of the pensions in future, but they represent two fundamentally different forms of government support for our retirement income system. Both have a role.
While REITs and some value stocks are considered 'inflation-sensitive' assets, the data provide little support that they are good inflation hedges, and energy stocks and commodities are too volatile. So what works?
They are six of the greatest businesses ever and should form part of the global portfolios of all investors. The market sees risk in inflation and valuations but the companies are positioned for outstanding growth.
Every five years, we receive a snapshot of what Australia may look like in 40 years. We will live longer with more spending on health, pensions and super but with fewer workers. Where will 40 million people live?
There are many reasons why the worries about inflation are overstated and investors should protect their portfolios against falling inflation rather than rising. The economy is completely different to the 1970s.
The inflation genie is still in the bottle. While wage growth remains low and the US Fed maintains current settings, we should expect the RBA's accommodatory approach to continue.
In 1961, Australian women had 3.5 children on average but by 2018, this figure stood at just 1.7. Falling fertility creates a shift in demographics and the ratio of retirees to working-age people.
Buying mispriced stocks is often uncomfortable when companies are outside the spotlight and markets are driven by emotions. And it's inescapable that the price paid ultimately determines the end result.
Drawing on experience as a bank analyst who studied the legislative process during the GFC, an internet analyst now has a unique insight into three key risks faced by Big Tech and implications for share prices.
The Big Four banks look similar but they are at fundamentally different stages as they move to simpler business models. Amid challenges from operating systems, loan growth and neobank threats, one factor stands tall.
The leading global innovation companies such as Amazon, Google, Tencent and Alibaba, alongside tomorrow’s champions in Tesla, Afterpay and Xero, offer better prospects than traditional ‘old-world’ value investments.
The gradual switch to electric vehicles is underway, but given the obvious shortcomings of fossil fuels, there are a surprising number of problems electric cars need to overcome. EVs have not yet won the race.
ETFs, LICs and MFs. These investment options share some similarities but there are also important differences that make them more or less suitable for particular investors. There are a few key features to know.
The Australian Taxation Office has issued a directive about the top five errors in SMSF annual returns. Although many leave these to an administrator, it's worth knowing what's happening behind the scenes.
Seeking financial advice can be a daunting task and over 80% of Australians do not have a financial adviser. Here are the steps involved in understanding the advice process to encourage more people to jump in.
The widespread use of 'millionaire' must stop. Inflation means that the basket of goods and services that cost $1 million in 1960 now requires $15 million. Today, millionaires are not wealthy.
Let compounding do its work. It starts slowly. This is why many of those who start an investment programme (or fitness programme, dietary change, sport, or business) give up in the early stages.
Don't make life difficult for the person trusted to manage your estate. Find the time to arrange your documents, contacts, online accounts and files in a convenient place, including giving them some cash.
Most people pay cursory attention to estate planning, limited to a will and maybe a chat with the children. Those who want to make their intentions clearer and easier for others should check these quick tips.
Loans to corporates were the traditional domain of banks, but as investors look for income alternatives to term deposits, funds have combined hundreds of loans into a single structure to create a diversified investment.
Jeremy Grantham has seen it all before, with bubbles every 15 years or so. The higher you go, the longer and greater the fall. You can have a high-priced asset or a high-yielding asset, but not both at the same time.
Active managers need to know what factors are distorting asset prices. This interview with Ted Maloney, CIO of MFS, explores how much of 10 years of growth has been pulled forward and the impact of Reddit users.
The Interview Series has proved highly popular with our readers. This year’s collection of 20 interviews for 2020 covers most asset types and is a window into how diversification helps to manage risk.
ETFs have gone from bit player to major force in Australian investing in the space of a few years, and will top $100 billion soon. One of the major providers explains how they bring products to the market.
Despite the successes of superannuation, the industry has failed to sell itself to the public. Instead of focussing on the exceptional investment returns delivered to millions of Australians, we hear more about the fights between industry funds, retail funds and senior Liberal Party officials. The battles are on many fronts and deflect from the main purpose.
Noise. It causes such basic errors in our decision-making that a new book from three top-selling US authors is called: 'Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement'. The examples in the book include wide variations in prison sentences for the same crime and insurance assessors awarding different damages for the same event. And then there are our investment decisions.
Economics is less popular in schools than ever, but there's an easy way to fix this. Rename it 'Investing and Economics' and enrolments would go through the roof. One major trend from COVID-19 is the increase in young people investing or trading on stock exchanges for the first time, but where do they find their ideas?
There is a similarity between the projections for 2060 described in the Intergenerational Report and the net-zero climate change debate for 2050. In both cases, we can ignore the threats because they are too far in the future to worry about now, or we can start to make policy adjustments to manage the transition.
It was not long ago that 'allfinanz' was the dream of every bank chief executive. It combined banking, wealth management and insurance into one organisational structure to cross-sell as many products as possible. CBA's sale of its general insurance last week, on top of wealth management and life insurance, was the final nail in the allfinanz coffin in Australia.
Despite lofty valuations, a higher than expected 5% annual inflation rate published last week in the US and new strains of the virus, fund managers and financial advisers are increasingly weighting portfolios to equities. Asset allocators believe inflation will be transitory and growth will be extended.
Our next article on modern retirement income products looks at Magellan's FuturePay. It aims to provide predictable income without having to sell down capital, but at its heart, it's an equity fund with added support.
There is a small universe of companies on the ASX which are reliable dividend payers over five years, are fairly valued and are classified as ‘negligible’ or ‘low’ on both ESG risk and carbon risk.
There are few opportunities to buy tech heavyweights at attractive prices. In Morningstar’s view, four global leaders are trading at decent discounts to their fair values, indicating potential for upside.
Josh Frydenberg's third budget contained changes to superannuation and other rules but their effective date is expected to be 1 July 2022. Take care not to confuse them with changes due on 1 July 2021.
Warren Buffett explained why he believes most investors should not pick stocks but simply own an S&P 500 index fund. "There's a lot more to picking stocks than figuring out what’s going to be a wonderful industry."
Chris has many years of experience in building successful wealth management practices.
Noel Whittaker is one of the world's foremost authorities on personal finance.
Phil Ruthven is the founder and director of IBISWorld, Australia's best-known business information, forecasting and strategic services corporation
Paul John Keating is a former Australian politician who served as the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1991 to 1996 as leader of the Labor Party.
Australian ETF Industry: Half Year Review 2021.
ETFs attract 41% of total market flows as global economic recovery continues.
midyear outlook: guarding for inflation and searching for quality.
40 years of investing is distilled into five crucial lessons. An overall theme is to embrace uncertainty to make an impact on how much you earn, how much you spend, how much you save and how much risk you take.
Many self-funded retirees will outlive their savings as most men and women now aged 65 will survive at least another 20 years. Compare your spending with how much you earn to see how long your money will last.