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Saturday, 18 September 2021
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The widespread use of 'millionaire' must stop. Inflation means that the basket of goods and services that cost $1 million in 1960 now requires $15 million. Today, millionaires are not wealthy.
Average life expectancies are a weak predictor of individual outcomes, and it's better to consider a range of probable lifespans. A plan that lasts to the average will disappoint every second retiree.
Two different articles cover a recent report on the attitudes of Australians towards retirement. What should be a enjoyable life stage is feared by many, and they fail to plan and work towards it.
Retirement planning will become increasingly complex in the face of trends in home ownership, wealth dispersion, life expectancy, health and aged care costs, work patterns and pension dependency.
Changes implemented by super reforms since 1 July 2017 have brought greater incentives for spouses to equalise their superannuation balances, including tax and estate planning benefits.
When more than half of retired Australians restrict their spending to less than the age pension and fear running out of money more than death itself, they may be denying a better lifestyle for themselves.
What do many of Australia’s top experts in superannuation and retirement planning think the government should focus its policies on? A long article but with many interesting ideas.
Retirement is not a steady state of more time for holidays and family. Planning must allow for the onset of part-disability and disability, and costs can rise significantly in the final 'frailty' years.
An SMSF can buy business real property and lease it to a member and the laws and processes are clear. The rent paid is classed as income from the investment rather than a contribution from the member.
In traditional economics, utility theory assumed that investors work off probability-weighted outcomes. Prospect theory can better explain actual investor behaviour and is a better tool for designing retirement plans.
Aged care is a specialist subject, but financial advisers need to have strategies for their clients before it is left to a family member to step in with different views on affordability and what standard of care is needed.
Important retirement planning lessons benefit from actual experience, given that life does not follow a predictable pattern and many people can’t work forever. Planning is vital but so is making adjustments.
Who knew? With some surprise results, the Government is on unexpected firm ground in asking people to draw on all their assets in retirement, although the comments show what feisty and informed readers we have.
It's a remarkable statistic. In any year since 1875, if you had invested in the Australian stock index, turned away and come back eight years later, your average return would be 120% with no negative periods.
Never stand between Australian households and an uncapped government programme with $3 billion in ‘free money’ to build or renovate their homes. But excess supply is coming with an absence of net migration.
Picking macro trends is difficult. What may seem logical and compelling one minute may completely change a few months later. There are better rewards from focussing on identifying the best companies at good prices.
The RBA Governor says rising house prices are due to "the design of our taxation and social security systems". The OECD says "the prolonged boom in house prices has inflated the wealth of many pensioners without impacting their pension eligibility." What's your view?
Some high-quality companies have emerged even stronger since the onset of COVID and are well placed for outperformance. We call these the ‘COVID Opportunists’ as they are now dominating their specific sectors.