Are you a shareholder? If so, you’re part of a growing club according to key findings from the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). In 1986 just 9% of Australians owned shares. Now it’s 35%, with a median portfolio size of $130,000. And these statistics refer to...
Planning for Retirement Articles
Age Discrimination
Recently we surveyed some of our readers to better understand the reasons why people retire. Many reasons were expected such as when they could afford to retire, health concerns,or job loss. What we didn’t expect was the number of people that mentioned...
Why do people retire?
There are about 3.9m retirees in Australia today so it’s not surprising that their reasons for retiring are many and varied. Some retire through choice and others find they have retirement forced upon them. We hear lots of reasons when we are helping our...
Your advice needs – This is what you told us
We recently asked you to tell us more about the sort of help and advice you would like to receive. Well this is what you told us. How much will I need? Nearly 39% of people ranked “How much will I need” highest among the financial issues on their mind....
Renovating your income in retirement
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...
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...