Jeremy Duffield

Jeremy Duffield is a senior player in the Australian and international financial services sectors, having served as a senior executive with leading global funds manager The Vanguard Group USA from 1980 to 2010. He founded Vanguard’s operations in Australia and Asia, and led them from 1996 to 2010. Jeremy is Chairman of the Australian Centre for Financial Studies and is a non-executive director of MLC, National Wealth Management and Plum Financial Services. He is a member of the Federal Government’s Australian Centre Financial Task Force and was previously a member of the Financial Sector Advisory Council and the Financial Literacy Foundation. He was also Deputy Chair of the Financial Services Council.
Enough

Enough

by |

I love the story Jack Bogle, legendary founder of Vanguard, told to open my favourite of his dozen books:

 “At a party given by a billionaire, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history.  Heller responds, ‘Yes, but I have something he will never have…enough.’”  

I like the way it reminds us that it’s not money that brings the greatest happiness to life.  There’s so much more.  It reminds us that we don’t necessarily need a lot to live on…so long as we really appreciate the things around us.  (Surrounded by my seven grandkids and the rest of my family at Christmas, I thought, what else do I need?)

It’s a great word, “enough,” with so many uses. And it’s core to what we do at Retirement Essentials.  We’re helping with the “enough” problems.  Do I have enough to retire?  Will we have enough to last us? And often, I’ve had enough of Centrelink or the super rules?  Can you help me work it out?  

While money isn’t the secret to happiness, it helps.  And you need enough to live your life.

Keeping it simple: Investing for retirement income

Keeping it simple: Investing for retirement income

by |

Sometimes the best plans are simple and straightforward.  Although retirement rules are complex, your retirement investments don’t need to be.  You can create a great retirement plan –delivering the lifestyle you want and can afford – with just the Age Pension, a retirement income stream from your super fund (an “Account Based Pension”) invested in diversified funds, and if you have investments outside super, keeping those simple too – a mix of low cost diversified managed funds and bank deposits for liquidity purposes.  Let me show you how.  

Think about your retirement sourcing like a 3 block pyramid.

The Age Pension is the base.  If you’re eligible, that’s great.  You’ll get a stream of income, payable fortnightly, that adjusts for inflation every six months.   If you’re not eligible now – maybe you’re not yet 67 or your current income or assets are too high – you probably will be one day as you spend down your other assets.  80% of people are eligible for the Age Pension by the time they’re 80.  

If you’re on the part Age Pension, it’s likely that it will rise as you get older.  When you spend down your assets, like super or savings & investments, your entitlement improves.