Note: This article is regularly updated with new figures (in particular the effects of Age Pension changes), to allow readers to compare what a $1 million retirement can deliver if retirement savings are invested with returns of 7% each year, or if invested on retirement with returns of 5% a year. … [Read more...]
Note: This article is updated regularly with the latest lifestyle/income data. The most recent data was released in May 2013 (for lifestyle costs as at March 2013), and includes Age Pension rates effective from March 2013 (until September 2013). Due to reader demand and the current market … [Read more...]
Note: This article is updated regularly with the latest lifestyle/income data, and latest Age Pension rates. The most recent data was released in May 2013 (for lifestyle costs up to March 2013) and includes March 2013 Age Pension rates (which apply until September 2013). Due to reader demand and the … [Read more...]
How much money do you need in retirement to live a lifestyle free of everyday money worries? For many Australians, this means a lifestyle where you can pay your bills without financial stress, you can enjoy an occasional holiday (or many!), you can maintain your car and house, and you can buy gifts … [Read more...]
Q: Could you please help with information about how annual deductible amounts are worked out by Centrelink for part Age Pension purposes. I have a defined benefit fund and an annual deductible amount. I gather Centrelink does not count this as income in assessing Age Pension amounts but I cannot … [Read more...]
Note: This article is a supporting article to the two-part series, ‘Crunching the numbers: a $1 million retirement’ and ‘Crunching the numbers: a $2 million retirement’. If you live off the earnings only from your invested capital then your capital can indeed last ‘forever’. The … [Read more...]
Due to reader demand and current market conditions, this article has been updated with new figures to allow readers to compare what a $2 million retirement can deliver if retirement savings are invested with returns of 5% each year, or if invested with returns of 7% a year. If you opt for a 5% … [Read more...]
Now that super funds, fund managers and other financial service providers have (nearly) survived the GFC, a lingering issue concerning the super industry is ‘adequacy’ (or lack of ‘adequacy’), that is, the worry that Australians will outlive their retirement savings. Okay, the industry is … [Read more...]
Note: This article was first published by SuperGuide during 2010. In July 2012, we updated the article with extra explanatory information, and clarified some of the comparison statistics. Australians born today are expected to live longer than Aussies born five years earlier, on average, … [Read more...]
Note: This article is current for the 2012/2013 year. At the start of each financial year, SuperGuide publishes an updated super checklist for readers. Use this list as a kick-start for your 2012/2013 super resolutions. You may not keep all of your resolutions, but if you do just a handful of … [Read more...]
This article is updated every few months with the latest lifestyle/income data. The most recent data was released on 15 November 2011 (for lifestyle costs as at September 2011). You’re thinking about your retirement and worried about whether you’ll have enough money to live the life you want, … [Read more...]
Are you planning to support yourself over a 30-year or even 40-year retirement or do you think Australia can afford to finance your retirement? The superannuation industry and the Federal Government continues to grapple with this issue, that is, whether Australia will continue to be in a position … [Read more...]
In November 2009, I wrote an article, (Updated life tables: Is the tide shifting for Australian life expectancies?), reporting that average life expectancies have increased, except for women in their eighties and nineties, based on the latest life tables released by the Australian Government … [Read more...]
Note: Draft legislation is now available on the relief outlined in this article. You can find more recent information on this issue, including changes to the relief offered to SMSFs, by reading DIY super: Age Pension relief for SMSF lifetime pensions. Defined benefit pensions, such as lifetime … [Read more...]
