Caution comes at a cost
As a super fund member, you typically spend your working life drip-feeding monthly contributions into your account without thinking about it too much. But thanks to your time in the market, dollar cost averaging and the power of compounding, those savings could land up being your biggest asset outside the family home.
Default super funds – where most members’ money is invested – have performed extraordinarily well, earning Australia an enviable reputation around the world.
But what happens when the drip-feeding stops and retirement starts?
There is no shortage of research that shows many retirees face retirement with trepidation. Members could turn to their fund and get free intra-fund advice, but it won’t take their partner’s super or other assets into account.
Funds have largely focused on accumulators rather than retirees. But, unlike the accumulation phase of super, there is no regulated default retirement product.
Yet the bulk of super assets sits in the
