Improving your income in retirement is a bit like renovating a home. You may have a home already but it's not everything you want it to be. So you start work to build something better. Just like with a renovation there will be a number of steps to go...
Planning for Retirement Articles
Using equity in the family home to fund a better retirement
By Dr Deborah Ralston* The 2020 Retirement Income Review examined the three pillars of the Australian retirement system - the age pension, compulsory superannuation and voluntary savings – and concluded that: The home is the most important component of...
What you need to know about aged care? By Dr Deborah Ralston
The recent Retirement Income Review* examined all aspects of Australia’s retirement system and concluded that it provides well for the needs of the vast majority older Australians, but it is complex and not well understood. In particular, there is a real...
Your Retirement Journey
One of the things I like about Noel Whittaker’s latest book, Retirement Made Simple, is his description of retirement as a journey. “I think journey is the perfect word,” he says, “because it has the connotations of a desired destination and all...
What advice would you give?
Three weeks ago we asked our readers “What advice would you give to others nearing or in retirement?”. Thank you all so much for your contributions. We will share some with you today and over the forthcoming weeks. Have a plan to keep active and...
Do Australians have enough in retirement?
“Start with the facts.” That was the motto of the government’s recently released review of the Australian retirement system. Don’t come up with policy recommendations; just give us the fact base to think about. A lot of the news media...
Weather forecasting and retirement planning
The inventor of weather forecasting, Admiral Robert FitzRoy, was motivated by the desire to stop shipwrecks off the coast of Britain. He established the first weather bureau in 1854….but was mocked for his forecasts and eventually took his own life in...
The Rock and Roll Guide to Retirement
When I’m asked to say something about myself that other people don’t know, I often say: “My brother, Andrew, is in the Aria (rock & roll) Hall of Fame.” It always blows them away, because they think I’m so conservative and they remember my brother...
What I learnt from my mother about retirement
My mother Anne got me started in investing by buying me 100 shares of some long-forgotten mining company when I was 14 in the late ‘60s. Never made any money out of it but I did learn how to read the share pages. I probably learnt more by...