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Wednesday, 19 January 2022
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Retirement solutions uniting the three pillars of retirement funding - the age pension, mandatory super and voluntary savings - are essential. Global experts discuss solutions that might work for Australia.
The Australian retirement funding system relies on three pillars: the age pension, superannuation and voluntary savings. Most retirees have their wealth tied up in the family home, so what role does it play?
Using the value of home equity built up over many years seems an obvious part of retirement planning, but reverse mortgages have been unsuccessful in Australia. Is it time for a fourth pillar of retirement income?
Businesses exploit the psychological processes that people go through when they decide to buy something, but does the US research work when faced with "traditional hard-bitten, no-bullshit Australian scepticism"?
This is our annual checklist of what retirees need to be aware of in 2022. It is a long list of 25 items and not everything will apply to your situation. Run your eye over the benefits and entitlements.
Australians are generally optimistic about retiring comfortably but their confidence lags retirement savers in other countries. They are also the most unsure about future returns and withdrawal rates in retirement.
Depending on personal circumstances, it may be time to rethink the bias to paying down housing debt over wealth accumulation in super. Do the sums and ask these four questions to plan for your future.
As we enter a new year, we dive into the Morningstar database to see which asset classes have performed well over various time periods, with the related risks and largest historical drawdowns.
The Warren Buffett/Charlie Munger partnership is the stuff of legends, but even Charlie admits it is coming to an end ("I'm nearly dead"). He is one of the few people in investing prepared to say what he thinks.
We often assign quality in investment choice by historical returns, backed up when we see fund flows directed towards such historically well-performing funds. This is a mistake made by investors and regulators.