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Home / Plan your retirement / Preparing for retirement / Five common financial mistakes people make just before retirement

Five common financial mistakes people make just before retirement

October 1, 2019 by Penny Pryor Leave a Comment

Reading time: 4 minutes

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  • 1. Not being aware of entitlements to pensions and benefits.
  • 2. Not updating their Will, or having inadequate estate planning
  • 3. Not preparing their SMSF to pay an account-based pension
  • 4. Not reviewing their investment strategy
  • 5. Not managing their superannuation balance or understanding the transfer balance cap

Preparing for retirement can be fraught. Not everybody wants to finish working, and some may be wondering what they are going to do with their days when the initial novelty of sleeping in and travelling wears off.

There is also the concern that the money may run out.

During such a stressful time, keeping on top of your superannuation may not be front of mind and there are a number of common mistakes that pre-retirees make. Here we take a look five of these and ways to avoid them.

1. Not being aware of entitlements to pensions and benefits.

Self-managed superannuation trustees are very used to doing everything themselves and some may not be aware that, even with a reasonable-sized superannuation balance, they could still qualify for a small Age Pension payment and the access to cheaper services that comes with that.

Even if receiving a very small Age Pension amount per fortnight, a pension card will get you cheaper vehicle registration, rebates on electricity and gas, and cheaper rate payments.

Learn more about how your superannuation impacts access to the Age Pension.

People who are ineligible for an Age Pension could still meet eligibility criteria for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card, which means they can access cheaper prescribed medicine and other medical benefits.


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Good to know: The income limits for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card are higher than the limits for the Age Pension and there is no assets test.

The income test limits are:

  • $54,929 a year if you’re single;
  • $87,884 a year for couples; and
  • $109,858 a year for couples separated by illness, respite care or prison.

An additional $639.60 can be added to these amounts for each child in your care.


However, applying for these benefits through Centrelink may not be an easy task and Michael Houlihan, non-executive director at the SMSF Association, says that often people may start an application but then put it in the too hard basket when it becomes difficult.

“There is nothing at all user friendly about Centrelink,” he says.

But it is important to persevere, as the end result will make a difference to your comfort in retirement.

Learn more about the Age Pension and the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.

2. Not updating their Will, or having inadequate estate planning

Another thing that should be a priority as you approach retirement is making sure your Will and estate planning are in order.

Many people may have a Will but may not be aware of the role of binding death benefit nominations and how they need to update the trust deeds and governing rules of their SMSFs to allow for binding death benefit nominations to be made.

It is not enough to state in a Will how you wish your superannuation to be distributed once you die, you also need to have valid binding death benefit nominations (BDBN), otherwise it will be up to the remaining SMSF trustees to decide where the money goes.

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Need to know: A BDBN is made in writing, signed in the presence of witnesses, must include a signed witness declaration and is sent to the fund’s trustee/s. It is usually valid for three years and needs to be updated every three years unless a trust deed allows for a non-lapsing BDBN, which remains in place indefinitely.


The court cases of people who did not have a BDBN in SuperGuide article Have you got an exit plan? The importance of estate planning make for a very sombre read.

3. Not preparing their SMSF to pay an account-based pension

Although you may have decided that you want to start paying yourself an account-based pension when you retire, this requires preparation in the lead up to retirement.

For a start, you need to make sure the trust deed allows an account-based pension and update it if it doesn’t. You then need to value the assets starting the pension. Then there is a significant amount of paperwork to be completed and supplied to the trustee, including notification in writing that you want to start an account-based pension.

Exempt current pension income also needs to be calculated, which becomes more complex the more members there are in the SMSF in different stages. An actuarial certificate may be required.

For a more detailed step-by-step guide to starting a pension read SuperGuide article SMSFs: How to start a pension.

4. Not reviewing their investment strategy

Somebody retiring today could live for another 20 years, which means they will need their superannuation to last for at least that long. However, many adopt a conservative approach to investment – shifting away from growth assets like equity and into defensive assets like fixed income and cash – once they retire because they are concerned they are no longer earning an income.

“But what they don’t think about is if I’m 65 my life expectancy is another 20 years out,” Houlihan says.

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It is reasonable to be more conservative in your asset allocation than you were prior to retirement but there still needs to be a good allocation to growth assets post retirement.

Given the current low interest rates, which are expected to stay at these levels for some time, rolling over the majority of your superannuation assets into cash may not be a wise investment.

Houlihan also says he spends a lot of time persuading retirees to spend their retirement funds as many want to leave an inheritance for dependents. However, unless you have a very large superannuation balance, it is highly unlikely you will be able to live off the income alone and you will need to get used to a diminishing balance.

5. Not managing their superannuation balance or understanding the transfer balance cap

If your superannuation balance is over $1.6 million, or is getting close to that amount, you need to be very aware of the transfer balance cap and the transfer balance account and how you are going to manage that account.

The transfer balance cap is a cap on the amount that can be used to commence a pension in retirement phase and was only introduced on 1 July 2017. For more details see SuperGuide article Definitive guide to the $1.6 million transfer balance cap. Houlihan is concerned there is a sizeable cohort that are not managing it well in the lead up to retirement.

“You’ve got a whole chunk out there who may not even be aware of the transfer balance cap,” Houlihan says.


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Any penalty earnings on your pension balance in excess of the cap will be taxed at 15% for the first breach and 30% for the second and consecutive breaches.

Pre-retirement you need to be aware that once you do retire and commence a pension, a transfer balance account will be created by the ATO in your name. Any time you stop or start a pension in any superannuation fund it must be reported to the ATO.

For a definitive guide to transfer balance account reporting see SuperGuide article TBAR – Transfer balance account reporting for SMSFs.


Good to know: Your superannuation balance also impacts your maximum annual contribution limits, so if you are thinking of boosting your superannuation through an extra concessional or non-concessional concessional contribution, check your balance first.

For example, if you have less than $500,000 in superannuation you might be able to roll up five years of unused concessional contributions.


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Learn more about preparing for retirement in the following SuperGuide articles:

What to do if the market tanks and you’re retired, or close to it

October 1, 2020

Countdown to retirement: Tips to help kickstart your retirement plans

June 1, 2020

Guide to transition-to-retirement pensions (TTRs or TRISs)

March 22, 2020

Financial advisers give tips on preparing for retirement

March 11, 2020

5 ways sequencing risk affects your retirement

September 1, 2019

How to navigate the different phases of retirement

August 9, 2019

Timing counts if you plan to retire this year and start a super pension

July 21, 2019

Retiring soon? Here are 5 questions you need to answer first

July 15, 2019

How do I apply for the Age Pension?

July 1, 2019

Adjusting to retirement: 8 factors that can help

December 3, 2018

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All information on SuperGuide is general in nature only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs.

You should consider whether any information on SuperGuide is appropriate to you before acting on it.

If SuperGuide refers to a financial product you should obtain the relevant product disclosure statement (PDS) or seek personal financial advice before making any investment decisions.

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