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13 April 2026
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Additional investment in the family home to maximise the age pension becomes a straitjacket. To voluntarily plan this outcome comes at a high price in terms of reduced income and loss of discretion over your own affairs.
The system has incentives that run counter to policy objectives, especially for the age pension taper rate, family home and access to super before it's assessed for the age pension. Here's how to fix these problems.
Retirees with between $300,000 and $800,000 in assets face complex questions on the interplay between how to spend their money, the age pension assets test, the taper rate and their longevity.
Australia came third in the world on the pension index, but with a B rated system. Here are the steps the country can take to join the elite A grade and ensure more people finance a secure retirement.
Pensioners with assets that fall within the range of the Assets Test taper are subject to effective marginal tax rates in excess of 100%. In fact, retirees face many higher marginal rates than workers.
It’s surprising there has not been more outcry about the age pension taper test in a low rate environment, where a ‘black hole’ creates a perverse impact of less retirement income the more a retiree has saved.
One in five Australians die before retirement and most have not set up their super properly so their loved ones can benefit from all their hard work and savings.
Stay on top of the latest changes to superannuation rates and thresholds for 2026, including increases to transfer balance cap, concessional contributions cap, and non-concessional contributions cap.
The 20 years after Peter Costello left Treasury have been deemed wasted...by Peter Costello. The missed opportunities for Australia began long before.
An ageing Australia is shifting the superannuation system’s focus from accumulation to the lifecycle of retirement. While these pressures have been anticipated for decades, they are now converging at scale and driving widespread industry change.
The Strait of Hormuz closure due to US-Iran conflict severely disrupted global energy supply chains. While various emergency measures mitigated the crude impact, the refined product market faces unprecedented stress.
With the upcoming budget increasingly likely to include bold proposals to alter the tax code I’ve outlined three incremental steps with fewer unintended consequences.