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8 September 2026
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Financial advice fee structures, institutions embracing bank hybrids, the varying costs of pension indexation, making super last through retirement, picking winners versus avoiding losers.
The Future of Financial Advice reforms have substantially addressed poor practices in the industry, and there's strong justification for different ways to charge fees for financial advice.
Until recently, institutional investors did not buy many bank hybrids, leaving issue size and margins subject to retail demand. But retail investors, including SMSFs, no longer have the market to themselves.
With the budget in deficit, debate about the sustainability of welfare and spending gathers pace. Looking at pension indexation alone, the two methods used differ by $300 billion in revenue between now and 2050.
Australian research on retirement withdrawal rates challenges the long-accepted ‘4% Rule’ used by many planning professionals when advising self-funded retirees. The optimal rate? Well, let's start a conversation.
Watching the market each day to pick a winner is not the best way to handle a retirement plan. A better and less stressful approach for your investment portfolio is to avoid losers, sit back and watch the grass grow.
For the last few years there has been much talk of a 'cost-of-living' crisis in Australia and of 'falling living standards'. Lately this has flared up again with the pickup in inflation resulting in a renewed fall in real wages.
Fear of running out has become a defining retirement anxiety. Why do some retirees die with substantial wealth while others deplete their nest egg? Evidence suggests the answer is more complicated than we think.
What if Australia’s golden age of dividends is ending? Rather than overhaul your portfolio, it may be worth considering where new capital can work harder. I discuss four income strategies and the trade-offs behind each.
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.
Tax rules have changed, but many investors are still using yesterday’s strategies. Insurance bonds may offer advantages for those seeking greater control, tax efficiency and certainty about their wealth.
Treasury’s latest CGT reform draft delivers a win for testamentary trusts and deceased estates, exempting estate-derived gains from the 30% floor. However, questions on death and divorce rollovers remain unresolved.