When the time comes to access your superannuation, starting a pension – after paying off the mortgage, funding renovations, replacing the car, taking a holiday, whatever – is one of the smartest things you could do.

Unless you’re going to receive a defined benefit pension from, say, a government scheme, there are decisions to make. These include when to start the pension (deferring it to July 1 may mean getting more into the tax-free retirement phase if the transfer balance cap is indexed, for example), how much pension income to draw, the frequency of payments, and importantly, what to do with it when you pass away.