retirement

The financial needs of a staggering 64 per cent of retirees sit beyond the comprehension of super funds, a new report states, because there is too much complexity involved when retirement income isn’t enough to satisfy lifestyle ambitions.

Retirement’s approach requires a profound change in how investors approach markets and construct portfolios, including arranging their income needs around three distinct periods of retired life, the financial advice firm’s founders said.

Australians are retiring much later and with more in their retirement coffers than ever before, according to the ABS, with a confluence of factors behind the trend.

A joint review conducted by ASIC and APRA was scathing of funds’ collective attempts to meet their new legal obligation to help fund members plan for retirement, and urged them to “address, with urgency, the gaps in their approach”.

Up until recently, alternative investments were only really open to institutional investors, but with these now available at a wholesale and retail level the retirement strategy game has changed.

Working Australians aren’t getting real when it comes to plausible retirement ages and income levels, according to data from Vanguard, with a new report suggesting expectations get closer to reality as retirement draws near.

With commissions gone, financial advisers can no longer rely on swollen prices when they sell their practice according to Helen Nan. Exiting to retirement now means planning like an adviser would.

Ever since the GFC interest rates around the world have been on a trajectory to zero, which acted as a proxy tax on investing for retirement for millions. But the current economic is a whole new ball game, writes Drew Meredith.

Sentiment around retirement prospects is declining across the board in Australia, with millionaires almost as likely as less affluent investors to believe it would take a miracle to retire securely. Recent reports highlight the correlation between the new economic uncertainty and reduced confidence in a comfortable retirement.

Australians should be putting more money into superannuation and diversifying out of property, some say, even as super performance remains a question mark.