Self-managed superannuation fund pension members have for some time had a relatively easy task managing their retirement cash-flow requirements. A simple portfolio of Australian blue-chip shares paying healthy franked dividends coupled with some term deposits was the staple investment strategy for many SMSF retirees.

Then COVID-19 hit, cash rates dropped to zero, companies shaved their dividend payouts and suddenly everyone was searching for “yield”. Having survived that experience – helped in part by the government halving the minimum pension requirements for four financial years, and with rising cash rates – SMSF retirees are gravitating back to this staple investment strategy and forgetting the lessons of the past.