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23 September 2026
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The superannuation system has succeeded brilliantly at what it was designed to do: accumulate wealth during working lives. The next challenge is meeting members’ diverse needs in retirement.
Debates about retirement tend to focus on the financial aspects: income, tax, estates, wills, and the like. Less attention is paid to the psychological challenges of retirement, which can often be more demanding.
Why is only half of our retirement income system based on compulsion? From an economic point of view, it simply may not make sense to have a compulsory retirement system that switches to voluntary at retirement.
There is far more to the simple 'objective of super' than meets the eye. It will guide future policy and those who assume we've seen the end of major superannuation changes are not reading the signals.
Superannuation has become a bit of a political football and there's noise around further changes to the system. While super isn't perfect, more changes could add further complexity to a system that's served us well.
By focusing on an individual rather than a group, professional investors get closer to the people they are trying to serve. Too many client meetings focus on the markets and not enough on meeting client goals.
As the Treasurer dusts off the files and instructs his office (yet again) to define the purpose of super, it will mean little to hundreds of thousands of Australians who have no intention of spending most of their super.
One problem with defining a single and universal purpose of superannuation is that people have contributed to super for years, even decades, with different ideas and intentions.
There is a huge amount individuals can learn from the example of top sports teams. Here are 5 business lessons learnt from sporting success.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.