Register For Our Mailing List

Register to receive our free weekly newsletter including editorials.

Home / 500

Our first Reader Survey for years to learn more about you

While we have run recent Reader Surveys on specific topics, it is many years since we found out more about you and what you like and don't like about Firstlinks.

To mark our 500th edition, as your present to us, we would appreciate your feedback across a range of questions that will help to improve our content. It should take only a few minutes but provide great value to our future planning. The survey can be accessed via this link, the QR code, or completed using the embedded form below.

 

 

21 Comments
Bhakta Robert
March 20, 2023

I forgot to mention in my comments, more PETER THORNHILL or similar articles please.

Stan
March 20, 2023

The method of calculating "income" for the proposed $3 million "cap" contains within it the indefensible idea of including unrealized paper gains in the market value of investments which would have the potential effect of penalizing investment in any speculative early stage exploration biotech or "tech" stocks. An example from my own experience is a biotech stock whose market price in the three years has gone from 2 cents to 60 cents and back to 12 cents. Anyone fortunately buying and selling at the the right time would have made real taxable capital gains, but anyone who simply held during this period may have huge paper gains which could now be called "income", at the same time as when the total value of the portfolio was temporarily inflated and exceeded the new "cap". This looks like another unintended consequence of poorly thought out proposal.

John Burgess
March 19, 2023

I appreciate the range of views expressed in Firstlinks publications.

Danielle
March 19, 2023

Good source of information. Have tried to influence/introduce women to your newsletters but find that once brackets, percentages and calculations appear they turn off. Accountant type hyperbole of no interest. Look at the Dixon Fiasco. Perhaps more info to those on balances under $350,000. That is the real world of super, we can only dream of figures in the millionaire bracket.

Dudley
March 19, 2023

"dream of figures in the millionaire bracket":

Millionaire full Age Pension at deeming rate:
= (26 * -1547.6) / 2.25%
= -$1,788,337.78 (- = invested)
Regrettable only while alive.

Mortals:
= PV(0%, (87 - 67), 26 * 1547.6, 0)
= -$804,752.00 (- = invested)

Phil Pogson
March 19, 2023

Survey done!
We all need steady regular cashflow. Besides Peter Thornhill, who else out there is doing good old fashioned dividend growth investing and can capably write about it? Let’s hear them please.
As for Super dramas, there are other products and places to keep retirement money. Super is now in the cross hairs of legislation change, so just don’t have all your eggs in that basket.

Martin
March 17, 2023

Anne, how about $360k in super? ASFA, March 2022. Average super balance for a 60-64 year-old male is $359,870. At a return of 7% pa a 64 year-old male will hit the cap at the age of 104 years.

Martin
March 17, 2023

Sorry Anne, that should have been 94 years, not 104 years, but I could give you some scary numbers for a 64 year old female on a median (not average) super balance.

Dudley
March 17, 2023

"64 year old female on a median (not average) super balance":
= (137051 + 180718) / 2
= $158,884.50
https://www.afr.com/policy/tax-and-super/how-your-super-balance-compares-with-people-your-age-20220318-p5a5sn

Age Pension Asset Test single:
= $280,000

Age Pension single home owner full:
= 26 f * 1026.50 / f
= $26,689.00 / y

Plenty live & entertain with spare to save.

Anne
March 17, 2023

Any one who shrugs their shoulders and says in relation to the proposed $3M cap 'well it doesn't apply to me' you are on notice. At a return of 7% pa your asset will double in value every 10 years. That means that if you have $1.5M in super now, in ten years time you will be hitting the un-indexed cap of $3M. If you have 750K in super now you will hit the cap in 20 years.
Therefore the valuable commentary, largely by Graham, is very relevant to many people.

Aussie HIFIRE
March 17, 2023

That would assume that you're in accumulation phase and not drawing down on your super at all. So if you're 50-55 (depending on whether you're planning to commence a pension at 60 or 65) then you need to have 1.5 mill now. If you're 40-45 then you need to have $750k now.

Those certainly aren't impossible figures to have, but we're really talking about the top 10% or so of the population. I don't like the fact that this is in real terms a retrospective change to super, but I also think that someone with 3 mill in super of which 1.7 mill is in pension should be paying a higher tax rate on earnings than 0% on their pension and 15% or the other 1.3 mill, which is an overall tax rate of roughly 5%.

If someone wants to argue that they're also missing out on the $21,000 or $26,000 of welfare in the form of age pension (depending on marital status) then sure that's fair, but assuming earnings of 5% on the total super amount of $3,000,000 so $150,000, and tax of $9,750 on the 5% in the $1,300,000 in accumulation phase, plus foregone welfare of $21,000, then you're looking at a total of $30,000 out of $150,000. Not peanuts, but surely a sum of money that someone with 3 mill in super might consider to be reasonable.

Peter
March 17, 2023

leaving aside any withdrawals Anne.

Liz
March 19, 2023

That is the point of the $3m cap. $3m will provide a comfortable retired living. Until you reach that $3m balance, enjoy the tax shelter while your balance grows. After reaching the balance, a discounted tax rate is not required to be paid to you by most other tax payers who have a snowflake in hell of achieving 10% of $3m - particularly women.

Dudley
March 19, 2023

"snowflake in hell of achieving 10% of $3m":

Minimum real after super tax rate of return, with maximum concessional contributions, required to achieve "10% of $3m":
= RATE((67 - 27), (1 - 15%) * -27500, 0, 10% * 3000000)
= -7.438% / y (- = loss)

Real contributions, with o% real return, required to achieve "10% of $3m:
= PMT(0%, (67 - 27), 0, 10% * 3000000) / (1 - 15%)
= $-8,823.53 / y (- = contribution)

Middle of the road proof:
= RATE((67 - 27), (1 - 15%) * -8823.53, 0, 10% * 3000000)
= 0.0%

Dav G
March 16, 2023

well prepared content

Martin
March 16, 2023

Agree with Raymond. Would you please focus more on those of us living in the real world of super balances.

Dudley
March 17, 2023

Calculate using your own inputs:
= NPER(7%, ((1 - 15%) * 27500) + -110000, -750000, 3000000)
= 11.2 y

Ken Ellis
March 16, 2023

I have enjoyed it for many years and is one of my prime sources of information

Raymond Ball
March 16, 2023

Always a good read for current issues. Perhaps a reduced emphasis on poor $3m+ individuals.

Mike
March 17, 2023

Always a good read for current issues. Perhaps a reduced emphasis on boomers and more on Gen-X.

Errol Davey
March 19, 2023

Totally agree. Tax-free $6m a couple in superannuation, income of $30,000 each from other sources and pay no tax! I feel good luck to them, enjoy life, no one has yet taken a cent to the afterlife! If there is one!

 

Leave a Comment:

banner

Most viewed in recent weeks

Raising the GST to 15%

Treasurer Jim Chalmers aims to tackle tax reform but faces challenges. Previous reviews struggled due to political sensitivities, highlighting the need for comprehensive and politically feasible change.

7 examples of how the new super tax will be calculated

You've no doubt heard about Division 296. These case studies show what people at various levels above the $3 million threshold might need to pay the ATO, with examples ranging from under $500 to more than $35,000.

Are franking credits hurting Australia’s economy?

Business investment and per capita GDP have languished over the past decade and the Labor Government is conducting inquiries to find out why. Franking credits should be part of the debate about our stalling economy.

Here's what should replace the $3 million super tax

With Div. 296 looming, is there a smarter way to tax superannuation? This proposes a fairer, income-linked alternative that respects compounding, ensures predictability, and avoids taxing unrealised capital gains. 

The rubbery numbers behind super tax concessions

In selling the super tax, Labor has repeated Treasury claims of there being $50 billion in super tax concessions annually, mostly flowing to high-income earners. This figure is vastly overstated.

9 winning investment strategies

There are many ways to invest in stocks, but some strategies are more effective than others. Here are nine tried and tested investment approaches - choosing one of these can improve your chances of reaching your financial goals.

Latest Updates

Investment strategies

Trump's US dollar assault is fuelling CBA's rise

Australian-based investors have been perplexed by the steep rise in CBA's share price But it's becoming clear that US funds are buying into our largest bank as a hedge against potential QE and further falls in the US dollar.

Investment strategies

With markets near record highs, here's what you should do with your portfolio

Markets have weathered geopolitical turmoil, hitting near record highs. Investors face tough decisions on valuations, asset concentration, and strategic portfolio rebalancing for risk control and future returns.

Property

Soaring house prices may be locking people into marriages

Soaring house prices are deepening Australia's cost of living crisis - and possibly distorting marriage decisions. New research links unexpected price changes to whether couples separate or silently struggle together.

Investment strategies

Google is facing 'the innovator's dilemma'

Artificial intelligence is forcing Google to rethink search - and its future. As usage shifts and rivals close in, will it adapt in time, or become a cautionary tale of disrupted disruptors?

Investment strategies

Study supports what many suspected about passive investing

The surge in passive investing doesn’t just mirror the market—it shapes it, often amplifying the rise of the largest firms and creating new risks and opportunities. For investors, understanding these effects is essential.

Property

Should we dump stamp duties for land taxes?

Economists have long flagged the idea of swapping property taxes for land taxes for fairness and equity reasons. This looks at why what seems fairer may not deliver the outcomes that we expect.

Investing

Being human means being a bad investor

Many of the behaviours that have made humans such a successful species also make it difficult for us to be good, long-term investors. The key to better decision making is to understand what makes us human and adapt.

Sponsors

Alliances

© 2025 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer
The data, research and opinions provided here are for information purposes; are not an offer to buy or sell a security; and are not warranted to be correct, complete or accurate. Morningstar, its affiliates, and third-party content providers are not responsible for any investment decisions, damages or losses resulting from, or related to, the data and analyses or their use. To the extent any content is general advice, it has been prepared for clients of Morningstar Australasia Pty Ltd (ABN: 95 090 665 544, AFSL: 240892), without reference to your financial objectives, situation or needs. For more information refer to our Financial Services Guide. You should consider the advice in light of these matters and if applicable, the relevant Product Disclosure Statement before making any decision to invest. Past performance does not necessarily indicate a financial product’s future performance. To obtain advice tailored to your situation, contact a professional financial adviser. Articles are current as at date of publication.
This website contains information and opinions provided by third parties. Inclusion of this information does not necessarily represent Morningstar’s positions, strategies or opinions and should not be considered an endorsement by Morningstar.