This Month
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Japanese giant shows courage with life insurance slam dunk deal
It takes Japanese-type conviction to double down on a challenged market, and pay a big price to do so.
- Anthony Macdonald
November
- Opinion
- Opinion
Hands off, the Future Fund is not a political slush pool
Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ plan means that a cornerstone of Australia’s financial security is suddenly viewed as a mere piggy bank for the latest government whim.
- Spiro Premetis
October
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Super system potshot a chance to double down on Keating’s vision
While we should not let the International Monetary Fund dictate how ordinary Australians’ savings are invested, it does have a point worth talking about.
- Anthony Macdonald
September
The best and worst retirement calculators revealed
Wildly different answers emerged when the same scenario was plugged into dozens of super funds’ retirement calculators. Now a consumer group is demanding higher standards.
- Hannah Wootton
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
How to fix the dearth of retirement options
It is clear that Australians need better retirement-income products. Annuities make some sense, yet their uptake is low. But change looks to be on the horizon.
- Anthony Macdonald
August
How to work less, help the kids and do the job you always wanted
A transition to retirement pension offers opportunities to revamp your lifestyle, pay down debt or gift a home deposit. Here’s how to take advantage.
- Duncan Hughes
The tools showing retirees they have more to spend than they thought
Retirement income modelling is advancing rapidly, giving people an unprecedented ability to plan their own financial futures.
- Joanna Mather
- Opinion
- Superannuation
This $300b super fund is making a monster move to stocks
Australian Retirement Trust has decided that a big chunk of its members will do a lot better with their pension nest egg invested in riskier assets.
- Jonathan Shapiro
July
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
Biden should go one step further and resign as president now
Letters from readers on the US election; Michael Stutchbury stepping down; climate analysis; pension reform; and protecting healthcare from cyber threats.
Actuaries call to include family homes above $2.1m in pension test
The Actuaries Institute suggests it’s time to slay the sacred cow that is the family home.
- Michelle Bowes
Expats’ retirement savings at risk in maze of pension transfers
Pension transfer company Brite Advisors is suspected by Australian and US officials of mishandling clients’ funds.
- Amy Bainbridge and Ainsley Thomson
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