Along with a raft of legislative change, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has also introduced new licensing requirements for accountants who work with and advise Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) Trustees. Only approx. 10% of accountants have complied with these changes to date.
As such if you, as many, consider your accountant would be your 1st port of call for Financial Advice, they will likely advise you, they are unable to provide the information you require & should consult a qualified Financial Adviser / Planner.
This is general advice only and you should seek expert financial advice from a qualified financial adviser before acting on any of the information covered in these topics.
Start investing early, or you may run out of money….especially Australian women.
A recent report by the ‘World Economic Forum” has indicated “Australian workers will dramatically outlive their retirement savings”. It is estimated that on average Australian women will outlive their retirement savings by 12.6 years, as opposed to men at 9.9 years.
As such investors need to invest with a longer time frame in mind, but also seek expert advice around their asset allocation, which is one of the main causes of the above problem.
Many younger investors are far too risk averse and do not realise that there is a far higher probability of them outliving their savings as opposed to worrying about short term investment market volatility.
Short term swings in the Australian share market are commonplace. However, a well diversified superannuation portfolio across quality assets with a growth focus, should deliver average returns in the vicinity of 5%-7.5% over the longer term (i.e. 7 years plus).
To put it another way, you should not be investing the same way you would if saving for a holiday in 9 months, as you would, for funds, that are designed to pay you an income for the rest of your life after retirement.
For Australian women and men that are looking to retire in their mid 60’ s, they should be aiming at a superannuation balance that will support them for at least a further 20 years.
A robust Financial Plan, will go a long way to achieving this goal for you.
“Disruption is our friend. It drives innovation.” – Mikaela Howard.
