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3 October 2026
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Chris Cuffe's views on risk, the paradox of living longer, the need for super funds to provide individual reporting, how to manage for real returns, and an interview with Ken Henry on opportunities for Australian businesses.
Risk means different things to different people, and there is a misallocation of resources, energy and intellect across the superannuation industry (and investment industry more broadly) to address risk.
Living longer does not necessarily translate into financial freedom. The hope is that you can work longer and therefore have more savings for your retirement, but people have less income-earning years.
There is a significant leadership opportunity for super funds to manage real return risk, where the inflation risk represents a potential erosion of retirement outcomes.
Super funds should provide a calculation of a member’s actual average return over their period of membership based on their own personal cash flow of contributions and fees experienced.
The Australian businesses likely to succeed in the Asian century are those that provide goods or services to the 3.2 billion middle-class consumers living in Asia within 15 years.
Conventional wisdom encourages retirees to preserve superannuation. But if those likely to qualify for the Age Pension later in life spend a little more today, it may deliver higher lifetime income and a more stable retirement.
For generations, Australian investors have backed banks, miners and dividends. But has that loyalty come at a cost? A look at the numbers raises an uncomfortable question about where future returns will come from.
The fight over testamentary trusts looked settled. Then the draft legislation arrived. Hidden in a technical detail is a question that could force many families to rethink wills they thought were already future-proof.
Reversionary pensions have long been a staple of SMSF estate planning, but are they still the best option? Meg Heffron revisits a once-clear favourite and asks whether changing super rules have shifted the balance.
The 4% rule has long been retirement's gold standard. But after a difficult period for investors, fresh analysis suggests a more conservative approach may significantly improve the chances of making savings last.
Investors have long accepted one portfolio rule without much question. A major tax shift could change that calculation entirely, forcing difficult trade-offs between risk, discipline and an overlooked cost lurking beneath.