This Month
A holiday home in my name means my husband gets no age pension
Doing her parents a favour years ago has created a retirement income headache.
- John Wasiliev
- Exclusive
- Federal budget
Deeming rate freeze costing up to $1.8 billion a year
If the freeze is maintained over the forward estimates, the overall unrealised savings could be more than $7bn, according to government figures, though this is not reflected in the budget.
- Ronald Mizen
June
My $1.25m super fund can’t pay me enough income
An 84-year-old is facing liquidity problems with minimum annual pension payments – but there are solutions.
- John Wasiliev
May
What to do if you are asset rich but cash poor
Four strategies to help your assets and savings work harder as the cost of living grows.
- Updated
- Duncan Hughes
Super funds spend big ahead of advice reforms
As the legislation enabling them to give more financial advice languishes in Canberra, funds are moving ahead with plans to implement it anyway.
- Hannah Wootton
The winners and losers in the federal budget
Green business, public servants, renters and taxpayers are budget winners while consultants, the Reserve Bank and tax cheats do poorly.
- Nick Bonyhady, Maxim Shanahan and Campbell Kwan
How the $3m super tax whack might hit property investors
Plans to tax unrealised gains on super balances have investors considering options. Here’s what calculations show about the potential impact of the tax.
- Duncan Hughes
Deeming cliff looms for 850k aged pensioners, welfare recipients
With inflation running high and cost-of-living pressures continuing to plague households, the government is being pressured to extend the freeze, or at least phase in, a higher deeming rate in the budget.
- Ronald Mizen
March
Founder-owned Menarock Life Aged Care hunts for strategic partner
Menarock is about half the size of Eccles family’s $40 million-a-year BlueCross Aged Care, recently sold to residential aged care operator Opal HealthCare.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Retirees face income hit as cost of living soars
A pandemic-era freeze on deeming rates is about to come to an end. Here’s what that means for pensioners.
- Updated
- Duncan Hughes
- Opinion
- Aged care
Why those who can afford it must pay more for aged care
Without a shift to user pays, there is no other way to fund a quality aged care system for all.
- Updated
- Jason Kara
February
‘Transition phase’: Five steps to mentally prepare for retirement
Leaving full-time work is a massive life change for many people, but advance planning can help ease the adjustment to life in a slower lane.
- Sian Powell
Retirement income products: What are my options?
A new generation of super products is attempting to address retirees’ concerns.
- Duncan Hughes
From Sydney to Siena: Sort your finances to retire abroad
You’ve hit 60, you’ve got your super and your time is your own. Should you make that move to Tuscany?
- Sylvia Ramsey
‘Paradigm shift’: How to switch to spending in retirement
After decades spent saving, lean into the fear, plan obsessively and let go of the guilt, experts say.
- Joanna Mather
Is 4pc still retirement’s magic number?
American financial planner William Bengen came up with a neat answer to one of life’s thorniest financial questions – how long will my savings last in retirement? – and it took off like a rocket.
- Penny Pryor and Joanna Mather
Most Australians run out of super by the end of their lives: study
The research from a new industry super mega lobby group comes as the government considers how to make super funds better assist their customers in retirement.
- Hannah Wootton
Big super renews push to take control of retirement savings
AustralianSuper wants to nudge customers into the retirement phase, help them apply for the age pension, and create ‘accounts for life’.
- Hannah Wootton
Let retirees control their super money, Treasury told
Some funds are pushing for reforms to default customers into pension products, even as ASFA suggests this could disadvantage some people.
- Hannah Wootton
What age you need to take super saving seriously – or suffer
Choosing a top-performing fund could boost your retirement savings by more than 50 per cent.
- Duncan Hughes